Tales of the Abyss 2: Kingdom of the Lost
by 0999Silv
Summary: My fanfiction sequel to Tales of the Abyss. A new adventure takes place with a young man named Sami and a photographer named Maika. Join them and the original cast on a new adventure to discover a lost civilization, and fight a new threat. Please Review
1. Prologue

Yes, it's another Tales of the Abyss Sequel. I do not own Tales of the Abyss, this is just a fanfiction. This one include original characters and the return of some new ones. In this story, there will be eight "playable characters." Two are the OC lead characters, two will be characters from the game I though would be fun to include, and four will be the four of the six original main characters, two males and two females. I won't introduce the two fun characters yet, but I will introduce my OC characters.

Name: Samuel "Sami" Creed

Age: 19  
Gender: Male  
Occupation: Student Scholar  
Class: Offensive Fighter

Weapon: Tonfas

Sample Artes: Demon Wing, Talon Strike, Swallow Fury

Quote: "There you go again, worrying about such minor details."

Name: Maika Veigalo

Age: 17  
Gender: Female  
Occupation: Photographer  
Class: Summoner

Weapon: Shield

Sample Artes: First Aid, Rally, Summon: Gremlins

Quote: "What…? I-I was just taking picture of the spring, I swear."

I have an interesting plot in mind, but I am also free for suggestions. For now, here is the prologue to my new story.**

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****Prologue**

It was a green and beautiful Gnome Day, as the nobleman looked out at his garden. He greatly admired his garden full of assorted roses, tulips, lilies, and violets. Sitting near the window, he observed the scene drinking some hot tea, and enjoying the scenery. He was a middle-aged and well built man, with long curled silver hair, a short stubby bearded, and eyes that were as red as the roses in his garden. He wore a long green robe with marking of black and gold embedded on the edges.

As he enjoyed the scenery, there was a knock on the door of his room. "Come in," he responded. A young man in his early twenties entered the room. He had short green hair, and sharp gold eyes that seemed almost animalistic. He proceeded into the room until next to his master.

"Master Edgar," the young man said with a bow. "There is a student at the academy who has written a most troubling paper."

"What kind of paper," The man named Edgar asked.

"I have it right here." The young man said taking it out, offering it to his master. The man Edgar took the paper and looked over it. He absorbed what the paper said, not showing any emotion as he looked through all twenty-four pages of the paper.

When he was done, he motioned for the servant to take it, which he did. "Who wrote this Elric?"

"A third year student named Samuel Creed," The servant Elric replied. "He appears to go by the name Sami for short. Here's a picture of him." He handed his master a picture of a young man of the age of nineteen with brown hair short at the back, but long at the sides, going down to his shoulders. He smiled in the picture with a confident energetic smile.

"Samuel," The noble man repeated. After a moment of pausing, he made a low chuckling sound as he continued to observe the picture of the young man. "Do you know what that name means in the Ancient Esponia Language?"

"I do," the servant said with a nod. "That is why I came to you. He is currently leaving for Shurrey Hill to prove his thesis. What shall we do my lord?"

After a small pause, the nobleman looked out the window with a look of indifference towards the subject. "Let him do as he pleases, but keep watch of him." He then turned back to the scenery. "You are dismissed Elric."

"Yes my lord." The servant said with a bow before leaving."

Edgar grinned as he looked out at his garden of assorted flowers. "To think, a student in my school would come up with this thesis." He said to himself. "And not just any student, but..." He paused when he realized he was speaking out loud to no one. He picked up his cup full of tea continuing his observation of the flower. Before drinking, he smirked and whispered to himself "voice of the lost souls."

_To be continued…_


	2. Risk Taker

Here's the first chapter of my story. This introduces the main character, Sami. This will get better as it goes along.**

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**Risk Taker**

"Samuel Creed, historian and number one third year student of Daath's prestige Academy of Scholars, Lorelei Institution, but you may call me Sami." The young man exclaimed in a voice booming with confidence. He stood around the height of a normal nineteen year old male with a smile border lining between on with high self esteem and one with high arrogance. He was a brunette with emerald green eyes. His hair was styled to be short at the back, but the front sides of his head had a pair of long dreads with black at the ends going down the sides of his head, stopping just at the shoulders. He wore a long black overcoat with white seams visually showing, and the ends embedded with white at the sleeves, the bottom of the coat, and the shoulders. Under the overcoat was a dark red shirt with a black Daath Symbol, a tuning fork. He wore a thick sash around his waist and black pants with black boots with metal plates at the sides and on the toe. He also wore black fingerless gloves and a pair of grey goggles with yellow lenses. On the side of his sash were a couple of two to three foot long pipes like poles. On his back was a shoulder strap bag that looked like it was filled.

Standing before Sami was a rather annoyed man in his late forty, black hair that was shaped like a bowl, and a pair of glasses. "I am aware of who you are Mr. Creed." The conversation between the two took place in a large office with the man standing next to a large desk.

"Please," Sami said with a chuckle. "Call me Sami."

The man ignored him and continued the explanation. "About your request, I must say it is highly unlikely that the academy is able to fulfill your request."

"What," Sami exclaimed disappointed. "Why?"

The man began to explain. "To be frank, your entire thesis is nearly impossible to prove. You claim that people of in ancient times were able to make pacts with monster and spirits, and actually summon them to do their will."

"It's possible," Sami insisted. "Yulia made a pact with Lorelei, so is it not possible for pacts to be formed with other beings such as monsters and spirits Professor Adner?"

"Your argument is hardly enough to prove your point." Professor Adner insisted. "And another part of your assertion was that there are nine aggregate sentient beings watching over the world, each a different fonon. Only seven fonon have been discovered, and you claim there are two more?"

"That's right," Sami said proudly. "Each Sephiroth has a specific fonon it is primarily made of except for two. They are the Radiation and the Absorption Gates. I believe even they are primarily composed of a fonon as well, they just have not been discovered yet cause no one tried looking deeper into them."

"The Radiation Gate is composed of Fonons two through five," Professor Adner asserted. "And the Absorption Gate is composed of the first and second fonon. Everyone knows that."

"But no one knows what keeps the fonons together." Sami defended. "I believe they have undiscovered fonons that bind those other fonons within them.

"And you claim all of these Sephiroth have a sentient being that it hosts?" Professor Adner said with a chuckle. "Most students when they create a thesis paper will do something simple like a theory of the Score's creation, or Yulia's actions, but you go way overboard. Your claims cannot be justified."

"They can be," Sami exclaimed now irritated.

"But you forget, one Sephiroth was destroyed three years ago." The Professor exclaimed.

Sami just sighed with indifference. "That can prove my point." He paused before continuing. "Van Grants chose the destruction of that Sephiroth for a reason, and not just for the reason everyone thinks."

"That also cannot be proven," The professor insisted.

"Well since every one of Grants' followers is dead, and the only survivor doesn't know enough about his plan to be any help, I assume you're right. But all I need is to go to one Sephiroth, the one at Shurrey Hill, and I can prove part of my thesis."

"That there are beings sealed within the Sephiroth. It's preposterous. Besides, you are but a mere student. The university will not fund a wild goose chase. Even is you are one of the academy's top students; there is a limit to how far we are willing to serve you."

Sami, irritated at this point just sighed. "Fine, then I'll go to Shurrey Hill myself. I can just catch a ferry and be there within hours with the money I saved."

"Even is you do get there," Professor Adner insisted. "You need permission from the Order of Lorelei and Emperor Peony to enter the Sephiroth. That on its own is a high impossibility. And the Dean will never agree to it."

Sami just smirked. "He doesn't have to approve of me taking a long research trip. He doesn't even have to know what I'm doing." He turned his back on the professor. "And as for permission, I got that all worked out." He took out from the inside pocket of his overcoat, a red oval stone.

Professor Adner froze in shock as he looked at the red stone, his face flushed with surprise. "That stone…" the professor started until he was cut of by Sami.

"A gift for Fon Mistress Anise," Sami said with a smirk. "All I need is to pick up a gift for Emperor Peony, and my research can begin." He proceeded to walk out of the room.

"What do you hope to accomplish?" The professor asked seriously. Sami stopped at the door. "Why do you wish to take such risks?"

Sami took his time as though he was trying to find the right words. It was just a few short seconds later before he answered in a surprisingly serious tone. "I got something to prove to a stubborn old man." He left the room leaving the professor behind to stare at the young man wondering what he was talking about.

* * *

"What do you mean the Fon Mistress isn't here?" Sami asked in total disbelief.

One of the two guards stationed in front of a large cathedral answered in almost emotionless tones. "Fon Mistress Anise has left for business."

"Dammit," Sami swore under his breath. He had arrived at the Church of Lorelei to have an audience with the Fon Mistress. This was proven futile since the Fon Mistress appears to be absent. He knew the Fon Mistress was the kind of person who would listen to the words of common people, she herself coming from a poor background. Unfortunately, her absents puts a major dent in his plans. He at least decided to know where she was located incase he needs to track her down. 'Where is the Fon Mistress currently?"

"She left for Grand Chokmah to speak with Emperor Peony and is expected to return by the end of the week." The other knight replied.

Sami's heart jumped when he heard what he said. It took all his will power to not call out and cry with joy when he heard where she was. "Grand… Chokmah…" he repeated. "I see, thank you for your time." He turned to leave, chuckling under his breath.

He arrived in town, turning into an alley to his left. It was there, he called out "Wooohooo!" He called out hopping about in excitement. "Fate and her sister Good Fortune must both be in love me. Both the people I wanted to see are at the same place at the same time. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Now I can go to the island and pick up Emperor Peony's 'gift' and just go straight to Grand Chokmah. I am so lucky."

"Really," he heard a voice say in a sly tone. He turned to see he was surrounded on both sides. There were four in total, around ten feet away from him on both sides of the alley. Two large men on each side chuckled as they came close with knives ready.

"You shouldn't be in an alley by yourself." One of the large muscular men said stroking his knife. "You'll never know what kind of thugs are hiding in the shadows, waiting to take your gald." The rest of them chuckled with the large man.

Sami, unfazed just sighed and reached to his sash. He removed his overcoat, revealing a long sleeve red shirt. He always threw off his overcoat to not get it torn or dirty in battle. He took the two pipes out and held one in each hand. The two pipes were held firmly by handles sticking out. "Some guys carry knives, every other guy carries a sword." He took a stance holding his right weapon high behind him, and the left weapon in a defensive position. "I however like to carry tonfas." He said with a smirk.

One of the large men blocking the way to the street charged. Sami simply smirked. In a quick motion, he charged keeping low, twirling when he was just below the man, and launched a powerful uppercut under the man's chin. The man fell back knocked out by just one strike.

The other man, had begun charging as well, slashing his knife at Sami. Sami easily deflected the slash. Sami did a left cross, right cross, and a powerful jab in the man's gut, finishing him with a powerful blow in the back of the large man's head.

Sami turned to the other two men who stood there with a mixture of shock and anger. Sami knew he could escape easily, but he decided to play with the men a little longer. Smirking, Sami motioned for the men to come at him. Angrily, the two charged at one.

With a quick horizontal motion, Sami slashed his right tonfa letting out a powerful sonic boom. "Demon Wing," he called. A white wave erupted and charged at the men. Both were knocked away as though they were leaves in the wind, crashing them in the back of the alley into trash cans.

All four thugs lay unconscious in the alley. Satisfied, Sami turned to leave the alley putting his tonfas back in his sash. "Now Sami, you better get some equipment. You leave tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn." he said to himself nonchalantly as though the events that took place never happened.

* * *

Sami was on his way out of Daath. He proceeded through a large forest, not on his way to Daath Bay to the North West, but to the north near the sea. He had been to the forest many times in the past doing research on plant life, and monsters. The forest was very quiet during this time of the day. Sami knew most nocturnal monster are starting to go to sleep, and the monster who roam the day won't wake up for hours. He has though long and hard about his destination and what to do, as he always does when he goes out on a research trip.

As he looked around, he took careful note of his surrounding; always keeping his guard up in case a monster is hiding in the trees or bushes. He knew that there is always a few monsters who are either late sleepers or early wakers looming around somewhere. He always had a plan to deal with them, and he was always prepared for anything. Although sometimes, there are some surprises.

"Help!" he heard a cry of fear. Sami turned to see where that scream came from. He looked around from left to right in the clearing hoping to hear that scream again. As he looked around, he noticed to the right, something was coming towards him through the bushes.

Sami threw off his overcoat revealing his red long sleeved shirt. He then readied his tonfas prepared to fight the threat that was getting closer to him. He got in his stance and focused on the bushes prepared. As soon as he was prepared, something rushed out the bushes.

The something was not just a something, but a someone. This someone was a young girl, somewhere close to Sami's age, but looked younger. She was significantly shorter the Sami, around five feet four inches tall.

"Help me," she called completely frightened.

The girl's terrified turquoise eyes looked straight ahead, and kept running towards Sami. She had taken too much speed to stop and Sami realized this. He stepped aside and let her run by. After going a few more feet, she crash face first into a tree. She twitched a couple a times, then fell on her back.

Sami looked down at the dazed girl with the twirling eyes. She had long straight orange hair going down to her waist and wore two locks of her hair on the right and left sides of head in braids. On her head was a lavender and white cap somewhat similar to what a nurse would wear with three horizontal lines in the center. Her clothes consisted of a buttoned up oversized lavender jacket with white symbols of a Malkuth design similar to a military uniform. Her pants were a deep blue color, and appeared to have knee pads. Her shoes were a teal color with white Malkuth symbols. The most noticeable traits about the eccentric young lady was that she had a photographer's camera around her neck, and a huge bronze colored shield strapped to her back. She almost looked like a turtle stuck on its back.

Sami knew immediately from her clothing she was from the Malkuth Empire, but wondered what she was doing all the way out here. He had not time to dwell on the matter when he remembered she was being chased by something, and it was still coming towards him.

Sami readied his fighting stance again just in time to see three wolf monster coming out of the bushes, ready to fight. "So much for a silence," Sami said with a sigh. He rushed at the wolves.

As one launched at him, Sami knocked him away with a powerful horizontal right strike. He struck another one who came at him with his right tonfa, and guarded an attack from another with his left. He dropped to the ground and seep kicked the wolf letting it fall to the ground. He then struck it to the head with a powerful force. This was not enough to kill the world, but enough to leave it temporarily stunned. The other wolf prepared to strike again, but Sami blocked it, and struck it at its leg.

The earlier wolf recovered and launched at Sami once gain. Sami lashed out, but the wolf managed to dodge this attack, snapping at Sami once again. Sami skillfully dodged the attack and countered with a swift kick to the side of his head.

The other wolf bit Sami directly, but not into flesh, but his over coat. Pulling at him, Sami almost lost his balance. He was prepared to strike the monster, but noticed the other wolf recovered and launched himself at Sami.

Sami knew he had to think fast. He called upon one of his artes for assistance. "Talon Strike," he yelled striking at both wolves, knocking them away. They both lay on the ground trying to get back up.

As Sami watched the two wolves, he realized something was not right. He remembered there were three wolves who charged at him. "Where's the other one?" he asked himself remembering the first wolf he knocked away.

He immediately turned to see the first wolfs, standing over the young girl, growling, ready to sink its fangs into the unconscious girl. As it opened its jaws, Sami readied for another art. "Demon Wing," he called letting out a powerful shockwave from his tonfas. The wolf was knocked away immediately after receiving the shock.

He ran back to the girl, but realized he was being followed by one of the two wolves behind him. He twirled around and struck the underside of the wolf's jaw with a powerful uppercut. Then he proceeded towards the girl with the other wolf recovered from the shockwave, and charging at Sami, its attention now at its attack.

Sami then realized the second wolf behind him was also giving chase. He knew he was surrounded on both sides, and had to take a big risk. If he fights off one, the other could easily attack him. He had to come up with something fast.

It was then he realized something important. He had just about enough power to perform an Arcane Arte he was working on. He had never attempted the arte, but he knew he had not choice.

He ran to his left to be sure the wolves would follow. When he got them where he wanted them, he launched out a powerful Arcane Arte. "Demon's Talon," he called letting out a furry of blows with his feet, tonfas, and finally, a huge shockwave knocking both wolves away.

Sami did not take the time to rest. He proceeded to the girl running at top speed. He reached her and saw she was unharmed apart from the self inflicted wounds. He turned his attention to the wolves and glared at them. All three were cautiously glaring and growling at Sami. Sami had inflicted a massive amount of damage on them, and knew they were prepared to finish this. They were going to launch a three way attack, and all Sami could do was defend. Sami needed a plan desperately, or else he and the girl would end up as leftovers for bugs after the wolves finished feeding off their corpses.

"This is not good." He thought. "Maybe if there were some fonons around," He placed the goggle on his forehead over his eyes. He looked around desperately, but he couldn't find a trace of what he was desperately seeking out. Once he looked up however, it was a different story. "Jackpot," he stated looking at green particles floating in the air.

He twirled one of his tonfas in the air. "Invoke Gale," he commanded. The green particles gathered before him and empowered his tonfas, making them glow green. He charged at the wolves ready to attack. "You want something to eat. Have a taste of Third Fonon." He let loose his power. "Swallow Fury," he called letting out a powerful barrage of blows. Empower with the power of wind, the beasts were blown away by the overpowering attack, crashing into tress, and breaking their trunks.

All three wolves lay still and lifeless. Sami knowing it was over turned his back and them and chuckled. "Brains and brawn," he said gently tapping his head with his tight tonfa.

After putting away the Tonfa pair, he turned his attention to the girl. She still lay on the ground, knocked out from her own clumsiness. As Sami got a closer looked at her, he couldn't help but notice she looked so much like a doll, discarded on the floor of a child's floor. Sami sighed as he looked north and back at the girl.

"I can't leave her here or she'll be easy pickings for whatever monster just so happens to be passing by. But I'm already behind schedule, and more than halfway to the boat, so I can't go back to Daath now." He paused and sighed annoyed. "It looks like I'll have to take her with me." He knelt down and carefully picked the girl up, placing her on his back.

He gave the girl a piggy back ride all the way to his destination. He was at a northern part of the continent, just north of Daath, and where the land meets the sea. A rowboat was waiting for on an old dock. He had rented the boat earlier, and left it at that old dock to leave as soon as possible.

He places the girl in the boat before unpacking his backpack. He saw the girl curl up into a ball, signifying she was still alive. He removed his overcoat and covered the girl with it.

Pulling back the sleeves of his dark red shirt, he sat down in the boat and prepared to row. His destination was the island just north of Daath. "Aleph Island, here I come," Sami said turning his sights towards the small Island.

As he proceeded to row, he noticed something dropped out of the girl's pocket as she moved. He stopped rowing to pick it up. It was a small tin ID badge.

"St. Binah citizen Maika Veigalo," Sami read. "Licensed photographer with no official company of employment." It said in her occupation file. "So she's a freelance photographer." Sami concluded. He checked the picture to be sure it was her, and looked at her date of birth concluding she was seventeen-years-old. "I wonder what she's doing so far away from home." He thought. He placed the ID down and continued to row. "Oh well, it looks like I'll have to wait until she wakes up. Until then, Aleph Island it is." He continued rowing with his unexpected traveling companion fast asleep. It was then Sami knew this was going to be a long trip.

_To be continued…_

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**Skit**

Sami: Man that was fun. I mean sure, my life was in danger and all, but still, facing three wolves at once alone. What a way to get the blood boiling. Most of those wimps at school wild crap themselves if this ever happened to them. That's just the problem with intellectuals these days. They all got to follow a smart but weak stereotype. Heh, well not me baby, bring'em on. I'll take whatever life throws at me.


	3. Aleph Island

Here's the next chapter. I would like to take the time to explain how I came up with Sami as the main character. His main insperations were Keele Zeibel and Rita Mordio. At first he was going to be a timid character, but I thought that would be too boring. So I gave him a more cunning and daring personality. While Keele and Rita inspired him, I was inspired by other characters to create him the way he is now including Yuri Lowell (his adventurous spirit), Genis Sage (his wise cracking nature), Senel Coolidge (his fighting style), and Mao (his choice of weapons). In the final draft of my character developement, I came up with Sami. I wanted to break away from the traditional "main character is ignorant of some knowledge" and create a main character who is intelligent and yet not too much of a nerd that he is to be taken lightly. Next chapter I will explain how I came up with Maika. Until then, please enjoy this chapter, and Please Review.**

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**Aleph Island**

Sami got a good look at his surroundings. He was on land now, the boat with the knocked out photographer behind him in the sand. He took a quick scan of the island mentally, noticing one side of the island was open and green with tall grass. Another part was thick and full of trees. It was small Island, but one that housed many kinds of monsters. The monster Sami was interested in particularly was in the forest part of the island.

He kept watch of the island for a long period of time, fixating his attention fully on its geographic settings. He barley notices that behind him, there was a noise stirring. Sami turned to see the photographer Maika getting up from the boat groggily. "Ouch," she said rubbing her nose, the result of crashing face first into a tree.

She flashed her turquoise eyes left to right noticing she was in a different environment. "W-Where am I?" she asked out loud.

"Ah, you're awake." Sami said with an indifferent tone. The girl turned to Sami shocked.

"Who are you," the girl demanded. "Where am I? How did I get here?"

"You're on an Aleph Island," Sami explained. "I brought you here."

The girl froze in shock. She looked at Sami with terrified eyes, slowly, but carefully climbing out of the boat onto land. "W-Why did you bring me here?" she asked.

"You were knocked out," Sami explained. "I would have brought you back to Daath, but I got a schedule to keep, so I brought you here."

She took a few steps back. Sami notices she was covering herself with her arms and sounded like she was whimpering. "What did you do? What were you planning on doing?"

"Doing," Sami raised an eyebrow at that question.

The girl stuttered a bit before she angrily yelled. "Y-You were taking me to this island to have your way with me weren't you pervert?"

"What," Sami asked in disbelief. "No, I was just…" he was cut off by the angry rants of the girl.

"What is this place your island where you take young maidens and force them to perform your sick games?" she asked outraged. "What were you going to do, tie me up, make me act like an animal, bathe me in a pool of melted chocolate?"

Sami looked at her with a face full of annoyance and a bit of disgust. "And I'm the pervert?" he questioned.

"You won't get the chance do you hear me." She yelled outraged. She made a dashed off in the opposite direction.

"Wait," Sami called to her. He was not trying to stop her, but trying to prevent her from crashing face first into the huge boulder that she was in the direction she was dashing… too late.

* * *

The girl sat cross legged in the sand with her forehead covered with a bandage. Her face was apple red both thanks to the crash, and out of embarrassment. "So you rescued me from three wolves?" she said after hearing Sami out finally. "I didn't even have any idea I was being chased by any monsters."

"Then why were you running?" Sami asked confused. He was just across from the girl sitting on the ledge of the boat listening to her explanation.

"I was taking a picture of a cute little bird. But it was in a very tall tree, so I climbed to a tall hill." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "But I tripped and started running down the hill. I couldn't stop so all I had to do was run."

"Until you found something to crash into," Sami pointed out much to the girl's embarrassment. "Those wolves must have seen you running and gave chase. You're lucky I was there or you'd be a wolf's chew toy."

"I'm sorry for being a burden." She got up and bowed one. "My name is Maika Veigalo. I'm…"

"A photographer from St. Binah," Sami interrupted. The girl froze wondering how he knew. He took out her ID Badge. "This fell out of your pocket."

"Oh," Maika said shocked. "Thank you." She retrieved her badge, placing it in her pocket. "I'm, as you already know, a freelance photographer. I came to Daath in hopes of photographing Fon Mistress Anise for the St. Binah newspaper."

"Well you missed her," Sami explained. "She's in Grand Chokmah right now."

"Oh man," she said pouting. She then turned her attention back to Sami after a few seconds of silent sulking. "And you are?"

"Samuel Creed," Sami introduced. "But you can call me Sami. I'm a researcher at Lorelei Institution."

"Lorelei Institution," Maika exclaimed in amazement. "I heard of that place! That's one of the best schools in the world! Only the super rich get into that school!"

"Or super smart, I came from a poor family, but was accepted there with a full scholarship."

"Wow, you're really that smart?"

"I'm one of the institutions best students. I'm majoring to become an archeologist and this year I graduate."

"You're already a senior?" Maika was simply amazed by the person she had just met.

"That's right, and right now I'm on my final assignment. I'm currently doing research to prove the thesis of my final assignment."

"What's your paper about?" Maika questioned.

Sami looked at the positioning of the sun. He realized it was already mid morning, and he was behind schedule. "I'll tell you later. Right now, I got to do some hunting."

"Hunting," Maika seemed puzzled. "What are you hunting?" Before she got an answer, Sami was already off. "Hey, wait up." She called to Sami.

* * *

The trees were close together. Not so close Sami could not get through, but close enough to make maneuvering somewhat annoying. Behind Sami, he could hear Maika tripping and hitting her head on branches as she followed close behind. He ignored her and continued to keep watch. As he watched, he paused for a moment, looked at a tree trunk that had strange markings on them. Keeping the markings in mind, he continued on his way down the forest grove.

When he was deep enough in the forest, he knelt down and hid behind a patch of shrubs. Maika knelt down beside him wondering what he was doing.

"What's going on?" she asked. Sami shushed her and kept on looking out. Maika turned to where Sami's attention was drawn and saw something peculiar. It was a small animal, about three feet tall, and four feet across walking on all fours. It looked like a pig, but had the ears of a rabbit and brown spats all around its body. "A Rappig," Maika stated amazed. She got her camera and took a picture of the Rappig grazing, keeping the flash of her camera off.

"This island is native to a variety of rappigs." Sami stated quietly. "They however are very rare and tend to hide during the day time. The only time they come out to feed is during this time of the day, since most day hunters are asleep. Rappigs aren't fighter. If they meet a predator, they rely on speed to run away."

"What are you going to do?" Maika asked.

"I want to find the right rappig, and give it to emperor Peony as a gift." Sami said with a grin. "Everyone knows of the Emperor's fondness of rappigs. If I bring him a rare specimen of rappig, he'll reward me with what I want."

"What is it you want from the emperor?" Maika asked curiously.

Sami grinned slyly. "Permission to enter the Sephiroth in Shurrey Hill. There I can prove my thesis."

"You're going through all this to complete a school assignment?" Maika asked raising an eyebrow.

"It may seem strange to you Maika," Sami said with a chuckle. "But I can't wait forever to make a big claim. I came up with a thesis so big I can't wait to share it with the world. I need to prove it ASAP. And besides, I'm graduating this year, so why not end my school year by rewriting history books?"

Maika was not convinced. "You're weird." She stated.

"Is that so face first?" Sami retorted.

"That's mean," Maika yelled. The Rappig heard this and scampered off in fear. "Oh no, I scared it away. I'm sorry."

"Forget about it," Sami assured getting up. "There was nothing interesting about that Rappig. What I want is a unique rappig, one that's worthy enough to present to an Emperor."

"I see," Maika said getting up. "Then I'll help you." Sami raised an eyebrow at her. "I want to thank you for saving my life. I think this will help me repay you."

Sami shrugged. "Do as you please. But try to keep quiet. Rappigs have a strong sense of hearing. The slightest noise could frighten them away."

"Don't worry," she assured. "I know how to quietly follow an animal. I'm a photographer, and one of the things I take pictures of is animals. I need to be quiet to photograph them."

"I see," Sami said with a nod. "Okay then, let's go find that unique rappig."

This was what people would call "easier said then done." Between Maika crashing into a tree face first when she tripped, her sneezing fists for when they past certain flowers, and her constant fear a snake will jump out o the bushes, Sami knew this was going to be a difficult challenge. Luckily, none of the rappigs they found were anything special like Sami wanted.

When one rappig was in sight, they would kneel down and observe it to see f there was anything unique about that animal. So far, out of the three they found, none were physically special.

After a few moments later, Sami was in the process of kneeling before another rappig. When he concluded this one was another ordinary one, he was prepared to get up. When he did, he noticed the mud near his feet. He paused and looked at the mud closely. It looked like a large boot print sunken in the earth.

"What's wrong?" Maika asked.

"It looks like someone else is on this island. " Sami explained.

"Someone else? How can you tell?"

"I saw some markings on a tree earlier that looked like knife marks but I didn't think much of it. These prints however are fresh. Whoever else is on this island was just here." Sami looked around the ground noticing that there are more footprints making a trail. "These prints are pretty big. Who ever it is has to be male. And these are the only tracks of their kind, so he's most likely alone."

"What kind of person do you think he is?"

"I don't know," Sami admitted taking a close look at the prints and doing the math in his head. "But whoever it is, he's huge, probably around six foot six. I think it's best we try to avoid this guy. Let's move on in a different direction." Taking in account they aren't alone, they continued searching for that unique rappig.

They searched around the island for another fifteen minutes. These fifteen minutes went by pretty slow for Sami who was now growing increasingly impatient. Along with his impatience, a growing suspicion.

Sami rested next to a stream in deep thought along with Maika who was washing her face off with the stream's water, evidently bored.

"This isn't right," Sami stated confused. "I know rappigs are rare, but we should have seen more then what we saw now."

"Maybe the rappigs are in hiding," Maika suggested getting up from the stream.

"No, it's still too early for them to be in hiding. They won't be in hiding until for another an hour." He looked around the forest. "I also find it strange that we saw rappigs one at a time. They usually travel and feed in small packs for affective awareness of their surroundings." He sighed annoyed. "It looks like I won't be able to find anything today. So much for staying on…" he froze.

Maika alert to his sudden silence looked at him staring at something in the distance. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Get down," Sami demanded squatting on the ground. She did as he instructed. Maika turned to the direction he was staring and saw what he was so fixated on.

There, taking a drink in the stream a few yards away was a rappig. This was no ordinary rappig however. This rappig was pure white. Its skin was completely white from head to two. There weren't even any spots on its back like normal rappigs have.

Sami grinned eagerly. "Jackpot," he called in a whisper. "A great-white rappig, this is even better then I expected."

"Great-white rappig," Maika repeated.

"They're a rare species of rappig that are close to extinction." Sami explained. "Due to this land sinking into the Qliphoth, a lot of animals were unable to develop a resistance to the miasma. One of those was the great-white rappigs who have weaker immune systems then the common rappig. They're close to extinction; almost never seen in the wild and only three are in captivity, all females. If this one's male I get bonus points if I present it to the Emperor."

"How do you plan on catching it?" Maika asked curiously.

"I got it all worked out." Sami said removing his jacket. He got his tonfas read and put his goggle over his eyes. "These goggles are called Fonon Goggles." Sami explained. "Normally you can't see phonons unless they are collected together, but with these, I can see what fonons are in the area even when they are separated." He looked around until he noticed there were orange particles floating over some bushes on the other side of the stream. "There are second fonon in that bush over there." He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small white bottle.

"What are you going to do?" Maika asked curious of Sami's actions.

"I'm going to collect them and infuse them with our bodies." Sami explained. "Those fonons will give us an earth like smell, blocking our scent. Then I'll release this white bottle attracting that rappig. It will come to us, and I'll catch it." He pointed his right tonfa at the bush.

"Invoke Ground," Sami called. The orange particles floated to him. His tonfas began to glow orange as they fused with his tonfa. Sami then touched Maika's shoulder with his left tonfa and her clothes were fused with the orange energy that was merging with Sami. "Not we both smell like nature." Sami stated. "All that's left is the white bottle." He opened the bottle and poured the context, a clear sweet smelling liquid, on the ground.

The white rappig lifted its head and sniffed the air. The scent caught its attention almost immediately. It sniffed the air trying to find out where the sweet smell was coming from. He proceeded to walk towards Sami and Maika. The two hid in the bushes waiting for it to get close enough. The rappig eventually got to the spot Sami wanted him. There it sniffed the spot Sami poured the white bottle's liquid. Sami was prepared.

Sami picked up a pebble and tossed it over the rappig and it landed behind the bushes across. The rappig lifted its head to where the pebble landed. Its sensitive hearing detected the sound. Viewing the sound as a threat, it retreated in the opposite direction, right at Maika.

The white rappig crashed right into Maika's arms. She held the rappig tightly not letting it go even after it began struggle and squeal. She held the rappig tightly but gently attempting to calm it down by shushing it.

Sami walked over and proceeded to stroke the rappig on its snout. This continued for the next few minutes. The more the rappig struggled, the more tired it got. Sami stroked it to calm it and Maika embraced it tightly, but not tight enough to harm it. The rappig eventually calmed down when it sensed its life was not in danger.

"Looks like its calm now," Sami stated. He reached in his pocket and pulled out some berries. It offered the rappig some. After sniffing the berries, it gladly accepted them, lapping them up one by one. The rappig was very small for the average rappig. It was about the size of a puppy and looked like a child's toy. It was then Sami realized it was a young rappiglet. "It's just a rappiglet." Sami stated observing it closely.

"Does that mean it has a mother?" Maika asked.

"It should." Sami said agreeing with her. "Rappiglets never separate from their parents. The only reason one is away from any of its parents is if something happened to them."

There was a small silence as the two watched the baby rappig eat the berries out of Sami's hand. It began to lick it when it was done feasting.

"With its bright skin and young age it will make an easy target for predators." Sami stated. "What's best for it is to take it with us for its survival."

"And give it to Emperor Peony?" Maika questioned.

"Oh, right," Sami agreed. "How did I forget the reason why I came here?" he thought to himself, or at least he thought he did.

"Excuse me," Maika asked hearing what Sami said.

Sami looked at her embarrassed. "Sorry, I have a habit of thinking out loud." He got up putting his jacket back on and removing his goggles, putting them back on his forehead. "Well, I have what I want. Let's go." Maika agreed following him. "If we go straight out, we'll reach the shore. That will give us plenty of space to walk back to the boat. Until then, keep that rappig in your arms."

"Got it," Maika agreed holding the rappig tightly.

* * *

They proceeded down the shoreline; Maika held the rappig ever so gently and proceeded to talk to it as though attempting to make conversation. The rappig probably could not understand her, but he looked up at her curiously as though paying attention to her words.

"That reminds me," she said. "Is this a girl or a boy?"

Sami stopped walking. He turned and knelt down looking between the rappiglet's legs. "It's male," he concluded standing up straight. "Looks like we're holding the father of a new generation of great-white rappigs. The emperor will be eating out of the palms of our hands." He chuckled menacingly. This made Maika and the rappiglet shrink with a nervous fear.

"You're making a scary sound." Maika stated holding the rappiglet tighter.

"Details, details," Sami said shrugging her off. "Let's go, I don't want to be in Grand Chokmah as soon as possible."

"Why are you on such a tight schedule?" Maika asked curious.

"Oh yeah, I never told you." He turned to her. "My final paper is due in one week from today. I need to get my proof for my thesis before the due date. I got my paper ready and turned in. All I need to do is find my proof before it's graded."

"I see," she said with a nod. "Well then, let's get to the boat as soon as possible. We can't have you be late can we?" She hurried on ahead of him.

Sami watched her rush ahead amazed by her perky attitude. He ran off following her down the shoreline. "Wait up," he called.

"You're going to have to catch up." Maika called in a teasing voice as she looked behind her at Sami struggling to keep up.

Sami then noticed she what was ahead of her. "Hold it," Sami called. Unfortunately it was too late. With a plop, she crashed right into something hard, and fell on her back.

Maika sat up, holding the rappig in one arm, and rubbing her face with her free hand. "Owie, did I crash into a tree again?" she asked annoyed. It was then she noticed the white rappig was shaking in her arms. She looked down and saw the rappig trembling, looking up at what Maika crashed into.

Sami at this point caught up, stopping a few feet behind her. "Maika, get over here!" Sami demanded.

Maika turned to Sami whose face was a mixture of fear and a fierce defensive posture. Maika looked up at what had both him and the rappiglet so worked up. Once she saw what it was she crashed into, she immediately got up and ran behind Sami out of fear.

Maika peered over Sami's shoulder and saw what she believed was a tree earlier. It was truly something huge, a very huge and muscular man. He was about six foot six, had a red Mohawk hairstyle, and tan skin. He had a thick beard, a long scar going down his chest. His attire included black vest but not shirt, a pair of sunglasses, crown sandals, a golden chain around his neck, and leather shorts with a huge thick belt. Around that belt was an array of knives and chains. His back strapped a huge single hand battle axe. The man snickered as he looked at the two cower before him, and seemed to show pride in his huge size.

Maika had only spent a few seconds with her attention on the man. She soon shifted her eyes to behind the huge hulking person to where a large wooden cage was placed on a big wagon and apparently dragged by the muscular man. Inside the cage was over twenty frightened rappigs.

_To be continued…_

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**Skits**

Here's another skit. In this one, Sami is normal while _Maika_ is italicized. I hope you enjoy.

_I can't believe how well prepared you are._

What this? This is all nothing.

_This is something. You're the most prepared person I ever met. It's like you can see the future. _

Hey now, I'm no Lorelei. Even I can't foresee certain events. Take you for example. I never planned on meeting you.

_And you still adapted. You really are amazing. I wish I can be as well prepared as you. _

Don't you plan things out?

_I usually go where the wind takes me. I'm always traveling around one place or another. I never really think about where I'm going. _

Is that why you always crash into things?

_That's mean. I don't crash into things all the time… (At least much as I used to)_

How can she keep such a pretty face with all that crashing?

_W-What…! (blushing)_

Oh… nothing… forget what I said (I've got to stop thinking out loud).

Until the next chapter, Please Review. Your feedback is greatly needed.


	4. Boss Battle Izor

Here's the next chapter. I would like to explain how I came up with Maika. Maika was a simple character at first. She is a combination of Collete Brunel and Norma Beatt. I also added a bt of a twist in her personality making her just slightly perverted and hinting a slight machonism. She's not Marta Lualdi perverted, but perverted enough. I also decided to make it a running gag that she crashes into something.**

* * *

**

**Boss Battle: Izor**

"Who are you?" Sami demanded.

The large man just snickered as he stared at the two travelers plus one rapigglet. "You're rude," the man said with a cocky grin. His voice was deep and muffled. His voice was almost ape like just like the man's muscular body. The cage full of rappigs began to stir as the man spoke. "Don't you know you're supposed to introduce yourself before asking someone their name?" The two just glared at him silently. "Fine, since you're so insistent, my name is Izor. I'm here on this island hunting rappigs."

"A hunter," Maika repeated.

"Don't mess with us!" Sami called angrily. "Don't you know it's illegal to take such a large amount of monsters out of their natural environment? You're no hunter, you're a poacher!"

"A poacher," the man named Izor repeated with a shocked expression that could easily be passed as fake.

Sami took out a small card from his pants pocket and revealed to so both Maika and Izor could see. "Hunting a few monsters for supplies is not illegal. One or two taken from their environment won't cause a problem. But for removing a large number of them from their natural habitat, especially rare ones, you need a written consent from a high ranked merchant to do so. Where's yours?"

Izor grinned again and reached into the pocket of his pants. He pulled out a sheet of folded paper, unfolding it, and revealed a kind of document with writing on it. The bottom had a large signature sighed the name of Astor of Chesedonia. "As you can see, I have permission from Astor himself to capture and deliver all these rappigs to him in Daath." Sami and Maika just stood there silently staring at the paper and taking what the large man into consideration. "Now if you'll excuse me…" he paused as his cocky expression changed to one of surprise and awe.

Sami turned to see what it was he was looking at and realized it was the Great white rappiglet in Maika's arms. At this point, the rappiglet was shaking violently at the sight of the large man. It wasn't long until he realized what Izor was thinking. Sami motioned at Maika to back away farther. She took the hint and shrunk back. Sami removed his overcoat preparing for a violent altercation.

"That rappig," Izor said in awe. "It's a Great White Rappiglet isn't it?"

"What is it is?" Sami asked tossing his coat into the sandy ground.

Izor's cocky smile returned again. "If it is then it will be worth a lot of money." He reached for his battle axe. He slowly proceeded towards them.

Maika held the rappiglet ever so close to her body, trying to calm it down by whispering gentle thoughts in his ears. This was however too little avail for the rappiglet still trembled with great anxiety. Maika was beginning to wonder if she should let the little creature go so it could run away from the large man.

"Maika," Sami instructed. Maika jumped a bit when she heard her name being called. As if reading her mind, he ordered "Do not let go of that rappiglet. It's safer with us then out there."

"What do you mean?" Maika asked confused. It would have certainly been safer if it ran away. She did not understand what Sami was trying to say.

Sami once again glared at the man, not dropping his gaze for an instant. "Where's your partner?" Sami asked visually irked. Izor stopped where he stood glaring back at Sami. "You didn't come alone on this island. I found a trail of boot prints in the mud, you're wearing sandals. That means someone else is on this island."

Izor's grin returned. "You're right. My big brother's on the island too. He must be out looking for that very rappig as we speak."

Sami grunted with anger. "So you did do something to that rappig. I was wondering why it was so afraid of you. What did you do to it?"

"Me, nothing," Izor explained. "My big brother however is another story. From what I heard he found a whole family of great white rappigs. Could you believe the luck? Out of the entire Island, one male and one female survived the miasma and reproduced. We came to this island to hunt rappigs and we find the rarest of the rare here on this island." Sami did show any emotion as he glared at the man. "My bro was prepared to catch the entire family for a very hefty reward, but they sensed him and ran off. He chased them, but the parents were ambushed by monsters." Sami's glare became angrier then before. "And without the parents, I'm afraid the children did not last long. There were six rappiglets when my bro counted. He found five corpses in the forest. That little rappig is the only survivor of its family."

At this point, Sami's glare turned into an intense scowl as he listened to the man's complete disregard of life. He knew they may have been rappigs, but to him, it was an insult to the very essence of what a family is. "To separate family like that and practically laugh about." Sami stated angered. He held his battle stance ready to attack.

"What's your poi…?" Izor began to ask.

He was immediately cut off by Sami who took out his tonfas, and slashed the sandy ground calling out "Grave Strike," Sami called. The shards of sand struck all over Izor at a fast velocity, knocking him back as he screamed with pain. Sami grinned, happy that he decided to save some of the second fonon from earlier to perform the FOF skill.

Sami turned to Maika. "Run to the boat now!" he instructed. Maika did not have time to think. She just did as instructed and took off with the rappiglet in her arms. As she ran pass Izor who was still on the ground moaning in pain. It wasn't till she was a good distance away that she turned around. She immediately noticed Sami was not behind her. He was still in the same spot he was earlier, staring down Izor.

Sami proceeded towards what was left of Izor's paper. The paper was completely shredded due to the impact with the shards. Sami simply spat at it and stopped it in the ground with his right boot. "If you're going to make a bogus story, get your facts straight," Sami began to explain slowly so that he could understand the inconsistencies in Izor's story. "One," He paused for a while waiting to see if Izor was listening. He just sat up glaring at Sami angrily. "The Daath port does not deal with the trading of animals. Two, you're out of season for this kind of hunting. And three, Astor does not sign hunting papers. He's the richest man in Chesedonia and deals with goods and services merchants, not animal dealers." Sami pointed a tonfa at Izor. "Its way pass obvious that paper's a forgery… poacher!" Sami got back into his battle stance. "I was going to run along with Maika but now I think I'll kick your ass before leaving the island."

Izor growled as he took of his single handed battle axe. "You little bastard," he slowly got up. "You're not leaving this island in one piece."

"You're not leaving this island with those rappigs." Sami called angrily. He began to charge.

Izor swung his ax horizontally to which Sami responded by ducking and striking his gut. The attack however appear to do little damage, since Izor just swung his free hand striking Sami's chest. Sami was hit hard, but managed to land on his feet. He launched a powerful shockwave at the man. "Demon Wing," he called letting his power lose. Izor blocked the attack with his axe and charged at Sami ready to launch a powerful attack.

Izor slashed downward and Sami dodged to the left. Izor responded by slashing his direction, to which Sami leaped out of range. Izor furiously slashed about in a powerful fury. Sami dodged every one leaping out of range each time. He was dodging for his life knowing one hit from that ax and it's all over for him.

"I've got to find a away to get back on the offensive quickly." Sami thought while trying to avoid being cut. "There has to be some sort of opening. But it's hard to find it when he keeps slashing at me."

It was then it came to him. His insistent slashing makes him vulnerable. Izor was so focused on Sami he let his guard down around him. If Sami could get around the slashing, he could strike Izor in his knee making him loose his balance and collapse on the ground. When on the ground, Sami could deliver a blow to the back of the head knocking his larger opponent out. It was worth a try, but very risky. He decided to take the risk; he ducked and rolled to the left of Izor.

"No you don't," Izor called reading his next move. "Fissure Strike," he called slashing at the ground. A powerful crescent moon shaped shockwave lashed out of the ground. Sami was knocked all the way back. This time, he was unable to land on his feet, landing hard on his stomach instead.

Sami attempted to get up from the unforeseeable attack, but was quickly brought down by sudden pressure on his back. He looked up to see the pressure was coming from Izor's right foot, pressing down on him. Izor stared down at him grinning as though he already won with his ax's blade slumped over his shoulder.

"What now kid?" he asked Sami as cocky as ever. Sami would like to know the answer to that question himself.

"Sami," he heard Maika's voice call. Both he and Izor turned to the direction they heard the voice. There standing next to a now currently empty and opened cage was Maika with the white rappiglet in her arms.

"No," Izor called realizing she freed all the rappig while he and Sami were fighting.

'I thought I told you to run!" Sami managed to yell with a bit of pain.

"I couldn't leave you." Maika called sincerely concerned and for good reason. "Let me help you." She called taking the kite shield off her back with one hand.

"No you fool just…" Sami was cut off by the intense pressure Izor was putting onto Sami's back.

"You two," Izor growled angrily. "I was going to let you both lived if you apologized and gave me the rappiglet, but now this is what I'm going to do." He grinned as he knelt down to Sami. "Now it's my turn to use numbers. One, I'm taking every last one of those rappigs out of your hide. Two, I'm taking the rappiglet and sell it to the highest bidder. And three, I'm taking the girl back to our hide out and…" he paused and chuckled. "…well, let's just say the bigger monsters we caught will need a new 'playmate.' We have so much trouble finding a chew toy that lasts so long." The more he heard Izor speak, the more he got the urge to bash the large man's skull in with his tonfa.

"Leave him alone!" Maika called tossing her shield like a flying disk. Izor noticed too late as the shield struck him at the side of his head. He was knocked off of Sami and onto his sides, grabbing his head in pain. The shield made an abrupt turn right back at Maika. She grabbed the shield with her free hand flawlessly.

Sami quickly got up and leaped over towards Maika. When he was joined by Maika, he suddenly slumped in pain. He looked at his chest and saw Izor's earlier attack had created a huge gash in his chest. The wound was not deep, but it was starting to bleed.

Maika ran next to him and saw his wound. "Let me take care of that." She said. She put her hand to his chest and emitted a green glowing light. Sami immediately recognized it as the seventh fonon in the form of the fonic arte First Aid.

"You're a seventh fonist!" Sami concluded surprised.

"Yes," she replied. "I travel by myself a lot. You pick up a few tricks when you're on the road, and discover new things about yourself. I just learned about my ability to use the seventh fonon a few weeks ago."

Sami looked over at her shield realizing it was no shield at all, but a boomerang. It was too light to really provide much defense and had holes under it for aerodynamics. He recognized it as a boomerang shield made by a Chesedonian blacksmith just recently.

Sami turned his attention back to Izor who slowly got up visually anger. "That's it," he growled charging at both Sami and Maika.

Sami got up ready to fight again. "Get ready," Sami instructed realizing Maika is more useful then she appears.

Maika quickly got up and threw her boomerang again. This time, Izor swatted it away with his ax. Sami charged at him ready to strike again. Izor just swatted at Sami. Sami managed to once again dodge the blow. He immediately realized Izor was not trying to attack him again. The target for his aggression was the one who struck him earlier. His target was Maika.

"Maika run," Sami called. She couldn't. She just stood there, paralyzed with fear over the looming figure charging at her like a rampaging monster. The rappiglet shook violently realizing as the large man approached. Izor was in a blind rage. He was going to kill Maika regardless of the rappiglet in her arms. He raised his axe, ready to strike.

"Noooo," Maika cried out in a blood curdling, deafening scream. As she screamed, figures quickly rose from underneath the ground. These figures erupted out in small explosions as if they were bubbles bursting in water. They were small, black, vicious, and all over Izor.

Izor flailed around as the unknown attackers began to swarm his body. He managed to grab one and tear it loose from him. He tossed it and proceeded struggling trying to get the rest of the unknown creatures off.

Sami took a closer look at the creature Izor threw. It was very small, about one foot tall. It was thin, black, and had a rodent like appearance. Its claws were sharp, and its teeth were just as, revealing a row of teeth in its mouth. It had huge ears, and yellow eyes, a pair of small black horn, a spiked tail, and on its back was a tiny pair of bat like wings. It made a cackling sound like it was laughing. It was diffidently vicious, but in a way, cute at the same time, much like a feral rodent.

The creature just chuckled and proceeded to charge back into the melee. Sami at this point noticed there were about ten of these creatures on Izor. He looked over at Maika who looked just as surprise as he did about the sudden interruption. The rappiglet stared at the many little guys surrounding the man apparently calmer then before. Sami truly did not understand what happened or what these creatures are, but he knew he recognized the feral rodents from somewhere, he just couldn't remember where.

Sami did not give the creatures any more thought however, quickly recovering from his shock and ran over towards Maika, passing Izor who was still occupied with the creatures. As he did, he heard the sound of the creatures making feral noises with a mixture of joy. It seemed like these creatures were as sadistic as they appeared.

He knelt down to Maika who was on her knees frozen with shock and awe. "Are you alright?" Sami asked. Maika snapped out of her trance by the sound of Sami's voice. She nodded in response. "I don't know what's going on, but I think those things are on our side. Let's help them out. Do you know anymore artes?"

"I-I know the arte Rally. It increases the strength of anyone I cast it on."

"Perfect, use that spell on me. I'll knock Izor out with my strongest arte."

Maika nodded agreeing with the plan. She got up and created a glyph of light under her feet. "Oh strength of the spirit," she began to glow a bright white color.

Sami in the mean time put on his Fonon Goggles. He looked out at the sea and saw blue colored particles hovering over the water. "Fourth Fonon," he stated. He spun a tonfa and proceeded with his part of the plan. "Invoke Aqua," he commanded. The particles flew over to him and gathered into his tonfas.

Maika was done preparing her spell. She let loose her power. "Rally," she called. She covered Sami with a shining red light. Sami was now glowing a bright red color with blue glowing tonfas.

"Now we'll see who the chew toy is." Sami called charging at Izor. The little creatures leaped off of Izor realizing what was coming next. They were apparently vicious and smart.

Izor brushed himself off as if there were still some on him. Letting his guard down at that moment was his downfall. As he turned, he was too late to counter the powerful blow on the side of his face.

"Torrent Wing," Sami called as a powerful force struck the large man. After the attack came a flow of water materialized from the fonons. It was like he was being struck with the force of powerful water cannon. Izor was knocked a great distances away, slamming through the ground and crashing straight into a large tree. There Izor laid still, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, the side of his face a deep red and a total lost of consciousness. Victory was Sami's and Maika's.

Sami made a sigh of relief. "Man that was a pain." He saw the ten little creatures giggle with glee like children snickering at something amusing. They were certainly sadistic little creatures. "What are these things?" He thought for a moment about where he saw the creatures. He knew they were familiar, he just did not know where he seen them.

He turned to Maika and saw she was breathing heavily. The rappiglet had not calmed down completely, but was a lot calmer then it was a minute ago. Maika rubbed the top of the rappiglet's head. "There now, it's okay now." She assured with a smile. She looked down and saw that three of the creatures carried her boomerang shield to her. They offered it to her with a grunt. "Thank you," Maika thanked awkwardly putting the shield back on her back, adjusting it to the strap.

"Maika the rappig!" Sami called. It was then she realized she let go of the rappiglet. However, instead of running, the rappig just stood there looking up at Maika. This surprised even Sami. "It's not running away."

Maika smiled and knelt down petting the rappiglet. "I guess he likes me too much to run away." She concluded. The creatures then gathered near the rappiglet and looked at it curiously. The rappiglet sniffed one of them. That same creature sniffed back and then did a back flip. Whatever random act the creature just did mean, the others giggles and hopped around. The rappiglet also squealed with delight. "Cute," Maika stated taking a picture of the event.

It was then the creatures apparently satisfied with their actions, burrowed back under ground and into the earth they came. Sami, the rappiglet, and Maika looked down the holes they retreated from more curious then ever. This was just one big day full of surprises.

It was then Sami realized they were still in danger. The battle was so loud and the island was so small, there was little doubt that Izor's brother would have heard it and would be on his way here as they stood there.

"We got to get off this island before his brother gets here." Sami called not wanting to push his luck with fighting a guy just as big as Izor. Maika agreed not wanting to stay a moment longer on the island.

"Oh, wait a moment." she called realizing something. She ran over to Izor, stopping a safe distance. He may be unconscious but she was not taking any chances. She took her camera and took a couple of pictures of him. "So the authorities can identify him."

"Good going." Sami praised. "Now come on, let's get off this island." He proceeded to run in the direction of the boat. He was followed by both ka and the rappiglet.

* * *

It was noon now. Sami rowed the boat as they went on their way back to Daath. Maika sat across from Sami reading a few sheets of paper. The rappiglet sat behind Maika at the nose of the boat curled up in a ball.

"So this is your paper?" Maika asked tilting her head.

"No," Sami corrected. "Those are notes. I copied those from our academy books. I even have a copy of my thesis in my bag some place."

"You wrote all of this by hand?" Maika asked amazed.

"I was engrossed with my research at the time. I didn't mind it all."

"So what is your paper about?"

"My paper's main topic is about the people of ancient times and their connection to fonon. I believe that people used the power of fonon to summon monsters and spirits to due their bidding."

"Summon…?"

"That's right; actually summon them from their natural environment. I got a book from the library in that bag. It has drawings of monster that were said to be mythological, but I believe the people of ancient times were able to summon these monsters by making a pact with them."

"I see," Maika said pulling out the book. It was pretty small and very thin. She opened it and saw the many pictures. There were many drawings of creatures including weird birds, lizard, and humanoid creatures. She looked at the pictures amazed. "To summon creatures like these. It sounds so cool." She turned the page and saw something that caught her eye. "Say, what are gremlins?"

"Gremlins are mythological creatures said to have come from a dimension called Gremlin Lair. It's said that they emerge from that dimension to cause mischievous pranks. It's said that they aren't dangerous; they just have a cruel sense of humor and tend to take their pranks too far. But according to what I read about them, they really are sadistic little…" He paused when he realized what he was describing was all too familiar. He stopped rowing the boat. "Let me see that book." Maika handed it over to him. He immediately looked into the book.

There on the page were small drawings of figures strikingly similar to the creatures on the island. They appeared in the book as if they were dancing, showing their unusual sense of humor. The description the book gave, the figures in the book, there are a lot of similarities. Those creatures may have just been the 'mythological' gremlins from the Gremlin Lair.

"But how…?" Sami questioned. He recalled the events. He recalled Maika yelling out when Izor was about to kill her, and how three of them gave her back her boomerang shield. "Could it be…" he looked over at Maika who looked back at him confused. There was only one explanation, Maika somehow summoned the gremlins. That was the only explanation for all that happened. This girl was a summoner, a summoner that can help prove his thesis.

"W-What is it?" Maika asked nervous from how he is staring at her. Sami got close to her causing Maika to jump back, the rappiglet made its way past her and Sami to the other side of the boat. Sami then put his hands on her upper arms looking at her in the eyes. Maika's face was a beat red as he stared intensively in the frightened girl's eyes. "What is he doing?" she thought. "No… it can't be… is he actually planning too…"

"Maika…" Sami said with a deep seriousness in his voice. "… I need you…" Her heart skipped a beat when she said that.

Maika took a deep breath. "Please be gentle…" she managed to say with her eyes closed tight.

"… to help me with my paper." Sami managed to finish his sentence. Maika opened her eyes when she heard what he said. Her heart beat managed to return to normal when she realized what he was asking was not what she thought. It was then Sami realized what she just said. "Wait… what…?"

"Nothing," Maika blurted out.

_To be continued…_

**

* * *

**

Skit

In this skit, Sami is normal, _Maika is italicized_, and the **rappiglet is bold**. It occurs after leaving Aleph Island.

_Here Rudy, have some of this apple, it's really good._

**(Squeal)**

Rudy?

_That's what I decided to name him. I decided we shouldn't keep calling him 'the rappiglet' all the time, so I named him Rudy. Isn't it cute?_

Why Rudy?

_It looks like a Rudy, plain and simple._

You couldn't come up with a better name?

_Why? Rudy's a good name._

This is a rare animal. A great white rappig, a creature on the endangered species list, just so close to extinction. You should give it a name that stands out. I mean, Rudy is just… ordinary.

_I see (nods). Okay then, for now on you are Sir Rudy. Do you like it?_

**(Squeals happily)**

_He likes it. Thanks Sami. _

That's not exactly what I had in mind.

Would you like another piece of apple Sir Rudy?

**(Squeals happily)**

(Sighs) Just call him Rudy.

* * *

Next chapter the original cast will start to appear including Anise and Jade. I know you're all waiting for Jade to appear, so this is just a heads up. It won't be long. Please Review!!!


	5. Grand Chokmah Meeting

This is a long chapter, but I wanted to answer alot of questions at once. This will be a talky talky chapter, but next one will hav a little more action. This chapter introduces Anise and Jade. Enjoy. **

* * *

**

**Grand Chokmah Meeting**

The large city was almost overwhelming for Maika. It was large and impressive with many beautiful architects. The sea just north of the city just adds to its beauty, as one would expect from the capital of the Malkuth Empire.

"Amazing," Maika said getting an eyeful of the capital. Sami and the white rappiglet Maika named Rudy stood behind her watching her actions.

"Aren't you from Malkuth?" Sami asked. "How come you never seen your own capital city?"

"I never left St. Binah until recently." She explained keeping her eyes one the city. "I always saw pictures of Malkuth, but I think it's even more magnificent then the photos. I want to come here since I was a little girl, but my family was so poor we couldn't travel. Now here I am, in the Malkuth Empire's capital."

Sami just shook his head. Seeing her prance around seemed too shameful for Sami to withstand. "We just got off the ferry and she's already acting like a child." Sami muttered. "Just put up with it Samuel, you need her for your paper." He recalled yesterday on the boat when they rowed back to Daath.

"_So here's the deal Maika," Sami explained as he sat in the boat. His eyes were fixated on Maika's to be sure she was paying attention. "If you help me with my paper I can help you with your photos. Think of it, if my theory is right, you can take pictures of creatures thought to have only existed in mythology. Your career as a photographer and my career as a researcher will both skyrocket."_

"_But are you sure I'm one of these summoners?" Maika asked unsure. "I mean, I don't now how I summoned those gremlins, I don't even know if it was even me who summoned them." _

"_It's not uncommon for a living creature to discover a hidden ability when survival instincts kick in. When Izor was about to kill you, you must have released some dormant power and summoned the gremlins to rescue you. It explains why the gremlins came to our aid and why they seemed to appear out of nowhere. They had to have been summoned by you." _

"_Even if I did summon them, what do you want me to do?" _

"_I could use you to prove my thesis, and for you, everyone newspaper, magazine, and photo collector will kill to have you working for them. What do you say?"_

_Maika lowered her head to think. All was silent as she sat thinking; the only sound was the sound of water hitting the side of the boat. _

Now here they are in the capital city, arriving recently by ferry and are now on their way to meet Fon Mistress Anise and the Emperor. Soon, Sami would prove his thesis… and prove to that man of his potential.

"Let's go," Sami instructed proceeding to walk off, Rudy following behind.

"W-Wait up," Maika called realizing the two were walking off without her.

Sami and Maika eventually made it to the palace. It was as big and luxurious as one would expect from a castle. It was huge and a cylinder shape, it almost seemed like a coliseum. Maika was obviously impresses by the size of the palace, but Sami just nodded and motioned her to follow him.

Sami walked until he was in front of two guards of the building. He cleared his voice and proceeded to introduce himself. "Good day, my name is Samuel Creed from the Daathic university the Lorelei Institution. Is it true the Fon Mistress is with the Emperor regarding business?" Maika was almost shocked by his extremely polite tone.

"She is," one of the guards replied.

"I seek and audience with both his majesty and the Fon Mistress regarding the Shurrey Hill Sephiroth."

"The Emperor is to not be disturbed when in a meeting with the Fon Mistress." The same guard replied. "He will not be seeing anyone today."

"Pardon me sir, but if I recall, Emperor Peony does not mind being disturbed if one presents him with a rappig, am I right?"

"Y-Yes, that is true."

Sami stepped aside and bowed. "May I introduce you to Rudy." The guards looked puzzled. Sami turned to see Maika standing in the path of Rudy with a dull look on her face.

"She looks nothing like a rappig." The other guard replied after a few tense seconds.

"Not here," Sami said pinching Maika's ear and pulling her out of the way with a few yelps. "Him," he pointed at the young white rappiglet.

The two guards stepped back in surprise when they saw the rappiglet staring at them. "A piglet of a Great White Rappig!"

The other guard turned to his comrade. "The Emperor did say the only exception is if someone brought back an exotic rappig."

After a small moment of silent debate between the two, one of them agreed to go see the emperor about the subject. While one went, the other stayed behind to keep watch.

While waiting, Maika whispered in Sami's ear about the event taking place. "Now you think about it, wouldn't it seem odd that the Emperor would see us just because we brought him a rappig?"

"I hear Emperor Peony's a very odd man." Sami replied in a whisper. "His love for rappigs is also very famous, so I wouldn't be surprised f he let a Behemoth in for a meeting if it offered him a rappig."

"Another thing, you seemed different then the way you usually act. Why were you all polite and kind just a minute ago?" Sami glared at her irritated. "N-Not that you're not polite and kind or anything like that." Maika corrected chuckling nervously.

Sami sighed ignoring her earlier comment. "In order to develop, man kind must develop many kinds of faces for many kinds of situation."

"Oh," Maika said with a nod, thinking she understood his explanation.

It was then, the guard from earlier returned. "The Emperor has agreed to see you. I also informed Fon Mistress Anise that you wish to see her as well."

"I thank you kind sir." Sami said with a kind smile. "Let's go Maika." Maika agreed following him with Rudy close behind.

Within the castle, Sami's group followed the guard past a hall, turning right to a private hallway. "We're not going into the audience room?" Sami questioned noticing they passed a large door that was Sami guessed it was.

"The Emperor is having a private conversation with Fon Mistress Anise and Colonel Jade Curtiss in his room."

"Colonel Jade Curtiss is with them!" Sami asked surprised.

"The three are in a conference. The topic appears to be confidential."

"I see," Sami said with a nod. He turned to see Rudy, but no Maika. "Where's Maika?" Rudy snorted turning around. Sami turned to see her taking pictures of the castle.

"Amazing, beautiful, I will treasure these pictures forever!" Maika cried like a fanatic taking pictures of square inch of the castle. She even took pictures of the floor.

"Maika, please restrain from taking pictures and show some manners within the Emperor's palace." Sami said with obvious irritation, yet trying to keep his façade up in front of the guard.

"Oh, right," Maika said running to catch up to Sami and Rudy. In her haste, she ended up crashing into a stand that held a potted plant. Sami just placed his right hand over his eyes and shook his head sighing heavily.

Despite the small distraction the guard managed to lead Sami and his small group to what is believed to be the Emperor's quarters. The guard knocked on the door and awaited a response.

While one was made, Sami took the liberty of taking Maika aside and have a little chat with her. "Now listen, let me do all the talking. We'll only get one shot at this, so try not to do anything that will get us kicked out, alright?"

"I know how to act around people." Maika insisted.

"So you know to do the following. Do not take pictures unless given permission, do not attempt to touch anyone or anything, do not accuse anyone of being a pervert, do not interrupt anyone as they speak, and above all, do not act like an obsessive fan girl."

"I got it I got it," Maika said annoyed. "I should know better then to do anything that will embarrass myself."

"Really," Sami responded raising an eyebrow.

"Now you're just being rude," Maika pouted.

Sami saw the door open. Both he and Maika waited patiently as the door opened a man stepped out. The man was in his thirties with long brown hair and a pair of glasses on his face. His blue Malkuthian Military outfit made it easy to tell who he is.

"Colonel Curtiss," the guard said standing in attention.

"I take it these two are who wanted to see the Emperor and the Fon Mistress?" Colonel Curtiss questioned looking over Sami and Maika.

"Yes sir," the guard responded.

"Well then, I'll introduce them to Emperor. You may return to your post." After one final salute, the guard left to rejoin his comrade guarding the front of the palace. Colonel Curtiss bowed and introduced himself. "My name is…"

"Colonel Jade Curtiss," Sami blurted out with excitement startling the colonel, Maika, and Rudy. Sami took the colonel's hand and shook it violently with stars in his eyes. "It's an honor to meet one of the most brilliant minds that Malkuth has ever produced." He let go leaving everyone who looked at him stunned. Sami continued in a hurried and over exited tone. "I-I so was not prepared for this meeting. I mean, here you are, right here, right now, in front of me, the father of Fomicry, the Necromancer, the one and only Jade Curtiss!" The Colonel just stood there with an expression that was extremely hard to read. The closest one read would probably be one of confusion and awkwardness. "I'm sorry, it's just I'm a huge fan of your work, I mean really, you are one of the brightest and most well respected minds of the world, no, the greatest mind in the world!" Maika just stood there puzzled over what was happening as Sami stood there flailing about with excitement. "Wait a moment." Sami insisted.

Sami then grabbed Maika's camera from around her neck, got next to Colonel Curtiss and took a picture of him with a great smile and the Colonel with his expressionless awkward look. He handed it back to Maika who stood there with a way more dumbfounded look then the Colonel.

"Oh man, my classmates are going to freak when they see that picture. When it develops will you sign it for me?"

"Um Sami," Maika tried to get a few words in.

"Silence Pervert!" Sami hissed pointing at Maika. Maika shut up quickly with a stunned expression of fear.

Colonel Curtiss cleared his voice and adjusted his glasses. "Now, although I'm flattered by your rather public admiration, you did not come here to see me if I recall."

"Right," Sami straightened himself up remembering why he was here. "I seek and audience with his Majesty and the Fon Mistress." He spoke in a serious and absolute tone, you could hardly tell he was the same fanatic from a few seconds ago, something Maika noted.

"My my, you change your mood quickly." The Colonel commented noticing Sami's rather quick change. "Very well then, follow me." He proceeded to reenter the room.

Sami looked over at Maika. "Come on Maika, let's go. And remember; be on your best behavior." He followed Colonel Curtiss in the room.

Maika pouted exhausted from what just happened. "Even though he just did everything he told me not to do." She commented. She proceeded into the room with Rudy close behind.

As Maika walked in the room, she noticed Sami standing there with a dumbfounded expression on his face. She looked in the room and saw what gave him that look, soon getting a similar look of her own.

The room was crawling with rappigs of all sizes. On the floor, in the shelves, on the stand, even on top the mantle of the fireplace. With straw and food dishes all in the side of the room, rappigs roamed like they roamed the place. Was this really an Emperor's room?

"I know," Colonel Curtiss said reading their expressions. "But let me assure you this is the right room. See, there's the emperor."

Sami and Maika turned to see a man in his thirties with blond hair and tan skin sitting in a chair petting a rappig in his arms. He sat at a small table where a young girl with black hair joined him. She wore her hair in a pigtail and wore Daath clothing of pink and white, and had a rather creepy looking bear or cat like doll on her back. She was putting a few lumps of sugar in a tea cup with an eager yet childish look on her face. Both looked like they were having a conversation in this small tea party by the huge window.

"So those two are the Emperor and Fon Mistress." Maika said amazed, her attention no longer on the rappigs.

Jade cleared his voice. "Your Excellency, may I introduce your guests." The man turned towards them, and the little girl stopped adding sugar in her tea and giving her attention to them as well.

Sami stood u straight. "Emperor Peony, Fon Mistress Anise, my name is Samuel Creed from the Lorelei Institution in Daath. This is my associate Maika Veigalo from St. Binah."

"Hey there," the girl greeted.

"Hello," The man said with a kindly smile. "You're the ones who wanted to see us right? Please, take a seat." He motioned for the seats a distance away from the table.

Sami and Maika both obliged walking over and sitting in the seats a distance away. Sami noticed the seat he sat in was warm. Someone else was probably here a minute ago. Though Sami wondered who else was present, he didn't press the thought further.

"Now, I understand you have something to show me?" Peony questioned.

"Yes sir," Sami said trying his best to held back excitement that his plan was coming together. "Maika,"

Maika knelt over and picked up Rudy. She held up the rappiglet for the emperor to see. "Allow me to introduce Sir Rudy Fon Aleph." Sami sighed as Maika said the rather unusual name.

The Fon Mistress giggled. "Sir what?" she asked close to a laughter.

"I decided since he is a rare great white rappig, he deserves a royal name. He is pretty much a royal rappigs from Aleph Island, so I decided to call him that.

"The name was all her idea," Sami interjected.

Emperor Peony got up from his seat and walked up to Maika and Rudy. He knelt down examining Rudy in a tense silence. He reached out and gently picked up the rappig for a closer examination.

"This is…" Emperor Peony began. Sami and Maika waited silently as the Emperor began. Colonel Curtiss just stood in his place silently, and the Fon Mistress just sat in her chair looking at the events take place partially interested. "…absolutely adorable!" The Emperor called excited. Sami smiled upon discovering the Emperor fondness for Rudy. "His white fur, his tiny body, and his overall rappiglet cuteness! I can hardly contain myself!" He embraced the rappiglet tightly but gentle enough not to harm it. He walked over to three of his rappigs and knelt down. "Jade, Nephry, Saphir look, it's your new little brother, Rudy!"

Both Maika and Sami turned to the human Jade with looks of confusion as to why there was a Rappig named Jade. "I'd be grateful if you don't ask." The Colonel replied reading their expressions once again.

The Emperor put the smaller white rappiglet down. The other three larger rappigs sniffed Rudy for a bit. They then squealed with what appeared to be joy as if to welcome the small one. Rudy squealed back circling the three, evidently happy to be among his own kind. It was then four younger rappigs about Rudy's height appeared before him and sniffed him. Rudy sniffed back, and excitedly pranced around. The four rappiglets then squealed as if offering Rudy to play. All five of them hurried off to play around in the Emperor's room.

"Awe, they accepted him," Peon stated watching the younger ones play. "You say you picked him up from Aleph Island?"

"Yeah," Sami said with a nod.

"But a rappiglet that young, didn't he have any family?" Sami and Maika fell silent. The Emperor read their melancholy expressions and knew his question was the cause. "What happened?" he asked getting u from his spot.

Despite his reluctance, Sami took the liberty explaining the events from yesterday, including their arrival on Aleph Island, finding Rudy, and Izor. He left out the part about Maika summoning the Gremlins, deciding to tell him when he gave the explanation of the theory. He just mentioned defeating Izor without telling him how.

He was at this point at the end of his story. "The Daath authorities went back to Aleph Island to check it out when we reported it, but he was already gone from the Island. His brother probably picked him up and left in a hurry. Maika gave a picture of him to the authorities so they at least know who to look for."

By the end of his explanation all was silent. Maika sat there depressed over hearing that story again. While Jade stood there with another expression that was hard to read, the Fon Mistress sat in her seat with a sympathetic look as if pitting the young rappiglet turned into an orphan.

The Emperor however stood up straight with a fiery aura surrounding him, visually angered by what he just heard. 'Unforgivable." He muttered. "Hunting poor defenseless Rappigs for a profit?" Emperor Peony raised his head with a burning anger in his eyes. "Sir Rudy Fon Aleph, I promise you vengeance over your family! Jade; deploy the entire Malkuth Army to hunt down this poacher! I will bring him to justice and make him pay for all those innocent rappigs he harmed so viciously!"

Jade just sighed annoyed. "Your Majesty, I advice greatly against sending your entire army to find one poacher. Besides, it's as Mr. Creed said, the authorities have his picture. He should be apprehended soon."

The Emperor, still visually angered cooled down a bit to think rationally. "Fine," he said still disgusted with the idea of poaching rappigs.

"Was he serious about sending his entire army?" Maika whispered to Jade.

"It's a possibility." The Colonel responded.

The Fon Mistress just sighed. "All this talk of rappigs." She said rubbing her head annoyed. "I think I got to get some air." She got up from her seat.

"I also have a present for you Fon Mistress." Sami said reaching into his coat pocket. Before he cold pull it out, the Fon Mistress was already in front of him holding out her hands.

"A present for me?" She asked in a childish excite tone. "Oh really you shouldn't have."

"Your actions don't match your words Fon Mistress." Jade pointed out.

"Well who am I to turn down a present?" Anise asked motioning for Sami to giver her the present.

Despite her contradicting words, Sami took out the present and showed it to her. It was a red well rounded oval jewel, about the size of his palm. Anise greedily grabbed the stone to take a closer look. She examined it closely to see if it's worth.

"Wow, now this is a rock!" Anise responded examining it greedily. "What is it?"

"It's a rare precious gem called a Heart Stone." Sami explained. "Very rare, and has a great value."

Anise turned the stone over and noticed there was something carved in it. It was a symbol of some kind from the Ancient Esponian times. Anise, able to read the ancient language knew what it said. "Soul," Anise read. She turned to Sami with a questioned expression.

"I found that stone on an expedition my institution made to a ruin site in the Chesedonian Desert. It was in a chest that had ancient Esponian writing on it. There was a legend that says it is a Lost Soul. I'm not sure what it meant, but there's a legend behind it saying it can bring an inanimate object to life. I tried it out, but nothing happened no matter what I put it in."

"Bring an inanimate object to life." Anise repeated. She looked at the stone for a moment. Her face then lit up with a bright idea. She took the doll from her back and opened its chest up. "Maybe it will bring Tokunaga to life."

"How cute," Jade responded to this. "Now instead of instructing Tokunaga to beat people, you can both participate."

"Boo," Anise responded. "I don't have Tokunaga beat people. Besides, I haven't used him in awhile. After all, I am sixteen year old now."

"And yet you haven't grown at all." Jade said with a shrug. "Poor Fon Mistress, still the same height she was when she was thirteen."

"Hey now," Anise said rather frustrated. "I'll have you know I grew one and one fourth centimeter since I was thirteen." She said rather proudly. Both Sami ad Maika sweat dropped when they heard her rather proud but somewhat sad declaration. "But…" she said closing her doll back up. "It would be fun if he did come to life." She went back to her seat. "Any ways, thanks for the present."

"You're welcome Fon Mistress." Sami said with a bow.

"Please, call me Anise." She responded with a smile. "I don't like people being so formal, and since that blowhard Grand Maestro Tibias isn't around."

"Grand Maestro Tibias," Sami repeated. "He's the person who replaced Grand Maestro Mohs, am I right?"

"Yeah," Anise responded. "But he's no fun. Ever since I became Fon Mistress, I had to be all formal and proper, and he made sure of it. He even made me learn to fight without Tokunaga; in fact, he never lets me fight anymore."

"Now now Anise," Jade interrupted. "The Grand Maestro just wants what's best for the Order and for you."

"Yeah, but he's too serious." Anise complained. "It's like he lives off the boredom of others."

Emperor Peony chuckled as he rejoined Anise at the table. "Well, it seems like you went through a lot of trouble to get us these gifts. All that's left is one question. What is it we can do for you?"

Sami was waiting for this moment. Finally, after all he went through, he can ask two important people for help. Sami cleared his voice and put his business face on. "First off, I'd like to apologize if I interrupted an important meeting."

"Oh that's alright," the Emperor said waving the matter off. "The matter at hand could be put off for a few moments. We were just about to adjourn the meeting anyway when the guard came in, so your timing couldn't have been better. So what was it you wanted to see us about?"

Sami cleared his voice and took out a copy of his thesis, a thick bundle of papers, a few books, and finally, the developed picture of the Gremlins Maika took. Sami began his explanation of the possibility of summoning, and a possible alternate use for the Sephiroth.

After part of his explanation was over, he showed them the picture and explained the possibility Maika summoned the Gremlins. Emperor Peony thought for a moment examining the photo before turning it over to Jade.

"What do you think Jade?" he asked his close friend.

Jade examined the photo closely. "It doesn't appear to be fake." He set the photo back on the table. "That aside, this is an incredible theory of yours is an incredible thought. I still have difficulty believing it."

"I understand your doubt," Sami said with a nod.

"Maybe if Miss Veigalo tried summoning these Gremlins again," Peony suggested. "That could give us more of a cause to believe you."

"Unfortunately she doesn't know how she did it." Sami pointed out. "And we tried so many times to get her to do it again."

"He was a real jerk about it!" Maika commented angrily.

"What," Sami questioned. "I was just trying to recreate the stress you felt during the fight with Izor. I did nothing that put your life in any serious danger."

"Didn't put my life in danger!?" Maika yelled angrily. "You tossed me off a cliff, threw me in quicksand, and then into a river full of rapids!"

"You were tied to a bungee cord, I pulled you out of the quicksand, and there were plenty of rocks for you to grab onto."

"This guy is something else." Anise commented as a large bead of sweat fell down from the side of her head.

"I don't know," Jade said with a shrug. "His reasoning is logical."

"That's because he's doing stuff you would do." Peony stated.

"I'm offended your majesty." Jade said with a smirk. "I would never use a bungee cord." As if that made it sound better. "Mr. Creed, if I may, maybe I can get her to summon these Gremlins."

"Of course sir," Sami said overjoyed. "Beat her, fry her, serve her on a plate."

"Am I some kind of egg?" Maika asked frantically.

"Now Miss Veigalo, please stand over there." Jade instructed. She reluctantly did as instructed, standing on the other side of the room. Jade cleared his voice, stood up straight and put his right arm over his chest. A glyph began to appear from under him. As he charged fonons, the rappigs suddenly cleared the way, running behind Peony and squealing with fear. Maika was not getting a good feeling about this.

"He isn't," Anise started with a tone of worry.

"He is," Peony said looking calm but a bit annoyed.

"He's what?" Maika asked taking a step back.

"He's going to do it." Sami said with stars in his eyes.

"_I who stands in the full lights of the heavens commands thee, who opens the gates of hell…"_

"It's the Mystic Arte Jade was made famous for." Sami stated star struck by the Arte. "It's Indignation."

"In…dig…" Maika heard about the power of the Mystic Arte Indignation, but never seen it. She looked up and saw fonons flowing above her and three circles appearing. She was beating sweat like crazy, realizing she was directly in the attack's path of destruction.

"This ends now!" Jade called. A flash of light appeared from above.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Maika cried out in a bloody scream.

From outside, there was a group of guards running up to the emperor's door, weapons ready, and prepared to fight off whatever was a threat to their Emperor. They heard a ruckus coming from inside the room, and assembled believing a fight going on in the Emperor's Quarters. As one opened the door, the group rushed the room prepared for a fight.

"Emperor Peony," one began. "…what's happening in…" he and the rest of the group froze when they saw what was in the room.

Leaping about, bouncing on the Emperor's bed, swinging on the chandelier, eating bowls of rappig food, and just fooling around. All over the Emperor's quarters roamed at least twenty small black mischievous creatures, giggling and cackling about. Maika lay on the floor with her eyes swirling, while Jade stood feet away with a puzzled look on his face.

"Now what was that last part?" Jade asked himself as if he truly forgotten. "Oh dear, old age appears to be catching up with me." he said with a smirk giving up.

"Uhh…" the same guard said confused over what's going on. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes, everything's fine." The Emperor responded. Back at the table, a few were hopping and dancing around, two were munching on the snacks at the table, and one was taking the whole kettle of teas and drinking it through the top, a sight that amused Anise greatly. The rappigs however were somewhat taken aback by the sudden intrusion of their home, and the plundering of their food. "I will however need more rappig food."

After a few minutes of straightening out an unusual situation, the meeting continued. The rappigs and gremlins feasted on rappig food and Maika lay on the Emperor's bed with a cold towel over her eyes. Though frightened by the experience, she was recovering, despite muttering "Devils… they're both devils…" to herself repeatedly.

Everyone else however proceeded with the topic on hand. "Well, so far part of your thesis was true." Peony stated. "It seems as though summoning is indeed possible."

"Yeah," Anise agreed. "You also proved the existence of Gremlins too. If I didn't see it, I wouldn't have believed it."

"There is however one part of your thesis that concerns me however." Jade pointed out. "You say there are other sentient beings beside Lorelei, each being belonging to a family of fonons, correct?"

"Yes sir," Sami confirmed.

"So tell me, why do you believe there is one at each Sephiroth?"

Sami cleared his throat as he began his explanation. He seemed to take his time before answering as though mentally preparing for his explanation. "Each Sephiroth has a fonon it is primarily composed of. For example, Shurrey Hill's Sephiroth is primarily composed of First Fonon. The other five primary Sephiroth have a specific fonon they are composed of primarily as well. This was not pointed out until two years ago, until after the fall of Akzeriuth." He paused to see if they still held his attention. When he saw they were still listening, he continued. "I believe each primary Sephiroth not only held a primary Sephiroth, but was home to a specific sentient being, a personification of that fonon."

"A personification," Anise questioned.

"That's right," Sami confirmed. "They can be summoned without actually appearing physically. Think of them as a kind of spirit forms. While they appear in spirit form, their true bodies are some place else resting.

"Resting where?" Peony asked.

Sami cleared his voice. "What I am about to say may be totally unbelievable, but I want you to cope with me on this one. I read over the notes of Van Grants' research on the Sephiroth which I footnoted in my thesis."

"How did you get those notes?" Jade questioned. "They were confiscated by Daath."

Sami grinned slyly. "As the top student of Lorelei Institution, you have special privileges." He changed back into his serious face. "But that's not important right now. In his research I found a particular sentence that read 'To trap Lorelei, I must disturb the slumber of Lorelei, even if it means to kill thousands in the process. But it will be worth it to rid the world of the Score.' That sentence was deciphered to mean he had to destroy Akzeriuth to rid the world of the score. Everyone thinks that Commandant Grants wanted to follow the score to throw everyone off, and believe there will be prosperity, but I think there's a deeper meaning to it."

"A deeper meaning?" Jade questioned appearing interested. "Do tell, what do you believe this meaning is?"

"It's all in the quote." Sami explained. "Disturb the Slumber of Lorelei." Sami pointed to a footnote in his thesis. "In the book of ancient Espionian legends, sentient beings rested in areas that were like incubators for them to rest and gain powers. I believe the areas of rest were the Sephiroth. Each primary Sephiroth held a specific fonon, but the Akzeriuth Sephiroth was destroyed before its fonons could be determined. I however believe I know which fonons it has." Everyone listened intensely, now greatly interested, even Maika removed her cold towel from over her eyes and sat up to listen. "Originally there were seven primary Sephiroth. There are also seven known fonons. Each Sephiroth has a primary fonon. The First Fonon Shadow, located in Shurrey Hill. The Second Fonon Gnome, located in Zao Ruins. The Third Fonon Sylph, located in the Meggiora Highlands. The Fourth Fonon Undine, located in Mt. Roneal. The Fifth Fonon Efreet, located in Mt. Zaleho. The Sixth Fonon Rem, located at Tataroo Valley. Finally, the Seventh Fonon Lorelei…" he paused making sure everyone was paying attention to make sure everyone was paying attention to him. They were, they all were.

"Go on," Jade assured. He seemed to understand where he was going with this.

"Located at Akzeriuth," Sami finished. There was no response to this. Just silence as the thought until Sami spoke again. "Commandant Grants somehow figured it out. Commandant Grants somehow found out… that Lorelei's true for was sealed within the Akzeriuth Sephiroth." Sami sat silently, letting what he just said sink into his listener's heads.

Both Anise and Peony sat in their seats frozen with surprise. What Sami said sounded absurd, but he made perfect sense of these possibly unbelievable facts. Jade stood there silently as well, not with a shocked expression, but a serious thoughtful expression, very mysterious, very unreadable. Maika just sat there, unsure of what to make of all this.

After a moment of silence, Jade broke it with a sigh. "My my, what are they teaching young people in schools these days?" Jade stood straight. "And you believe you can prove this?"

"Of course," Sami assured. "The Sephiroth has a clue somewhere about summoning. The Sephiroth, Maika, and the material I used in my thesis are all I need to figure it out. All I need now is permission to enter the Sephiroth in Shurrey Hill and the power of the Fon Mistress, and I can prove my thesis. And so I ask you Emperor Peony, Fon Mistress Anise, will you help me with my thesis."

Emperor Peony smiled as he got up from his seat. "You seem confident, plus I like you kid. Very well, I'll give you a written statement giving you permission to enter the Sephiroth."

Anise just smiled as she got up from her seat. "Actually, I was just looking for an excuse to get out. Sure, I'll help you out. Who knows, we may actually see something fun."

Sami was overjoyed by the events that were unfolding. "Thank you both so much." He got up and shook the Emperor's hands in thanks. As he did, Maika got up from the bed and got her camera ready. "Oh by the way, is it alright if I take some pictures?"

"I don't mind." Peony assured.

"Me neither," Anise said. "I love getting my picture taken.

Maika took several pictures, including one of Peony, one of Anise, one of both Peony and Anise, one of Anise again but with a cute girl pose, one of a reluctant Jade and an excited Sami, one of Anise in another cute girl pose, one with Peony and several of his rappigs including Rudy, one with Anise again but with her Tokunaga, and one with the gremlins and rappigs.

After a few more minutes of discussion, all parties were outside of the room, and in front of the door leading to the outside of the castle. Sami and Anise both made plans to leave. "If we take a chariot with an escort, we will be there within a few hours." Anise explained.

"We can rest at St. Binah and be at Shurrey Hill by late noon." Sami agreed. He turned to see Maika kneeling down to Rudy. The girl had obviously grown fond of the little rappig Sami knew it would be hard for her to say goodbye.

"Try to be good okay?" Maika instructed with sadness in her voice. "Be sure to eat well and make friends with the others." Rudy sadly squealed, knowing Maika will be gone for a while. "I'm sorry I can't take you with me, but it will be fun here. You got plenty of food, and the Emperor seems like a really nice man. You should be happy." Rudy squealed as he nuzzled the hand that pet him.

"Don't worry," Peony assured. "He'll be in good hands, and I'll let you come see him any time you want."

"Really," Maika asked surprised. "That's very kid of you your majesty."

"A cute girl such as you is always welcomed in my palace." Peony stated making Maika blush.

"By the way Samuel," Jade said to his young admirer.

"I prefer to be called Sami sir," Sami said nervously to his idol.

"Very well Sami," Jade corrected. "I would like to borrow the copy of your thesis and look it over if that's all right."

"You'll do that!?" Sami asked excitedly. "To have Jade the Necromancer look over my thesis, I would be honored." He handed over his copy of the paper.

"I repeat myself Sami; I'm really not a man that deserves admiration."

"Oh come on Jade." Peony said with a smile. "Admit it, you're enjoying the fact you have a fan."

"Your majesty is free to believe what he thinks."

"At any rate, it's about time we get going to St. Binah." Anise stated. "Come on, I want to get out of here before one of Tibias' over serious babysitters try to stop me." She hurried out the door.

"Wait up Fon Mistress," Maika called following her.

"Colonel Curtiss, your Majesty," Sami said with a bow, then followed the girls outside.

Both the Emperor and Jade stood there watching the three younger ones exit the castle. Emperor Peony picked up Rudy and chuckled. "They seem like good kids."

"I suppose so," Jade said looking at the paper.

"By the way Jade." The Emperor spoke in a more serious voice. "The reason you offered to review that paper. Does it have to do with what we discussed in our meeting?"

Jade remained silent for a few seconds before answering. "Possibly," he responded. "Anise didn't see the connection, but I did." He walked off still with his eyes on the paper. "I hope however I'm wrong… for both their sakes."

To be continued...

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**Skits**

Sami is normal, Maika is _italicized_, Anise if **bold**.

_So scary… so scary…_

What's up with you?

_It's that Colonel Curtiss man. He's such a scary man._

Scary? I didn't find him scar at all. In fact, he seemed like a really decent man.

**What room were you in? **

_Didn't you see him almost kill me with that Indignation? _

But he didn't, so it's all right.

_No it's not!_

I am disappointed I didn't get to see him finish though.

_You're disappointed he didn't kill me? _

**Yeah, it's really cool when it hits. If Maika was hit, she would have been completely incinerated. **

Nothing left?

**Nothing left.**

Nice, I would have loved to see that.

**You all do know I'm standing right here, right?**

**

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**I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review.


	6. St Binah

I'm back. It's been a long time, but I'm back on the site, and now I go by the name 0999silv. Along with this upload, I would like to promote my newest Fanfic, _Tales of the Zenith_, an original Tales of Series Fanfic I created for a forum, but am now moving to . It's uploaded in the Misc. Games section. I hope you enjoy my fanfics. Anyway, this chapter is a talking chapter, but next chapter, it will pick up again. I will update my other stories soon. **

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**

**St. Binah**

"It hasn't changed at all." Maika said, sighing with great satisfaction. After being gone for so long, here she was, back in her home town. She did not know who said 'no place like home,' but she understood what it meant. Now here she was, back in the town she spent most her life.

"Wow," Anise said looking around at the buildings and people. "I can't believe how far St. Binah has come." She walked around circling the flower garden in the center as she looked out at the city. Everything was lively and bright, completely different then what St. Binah was three years ago.

Three years prior, St. Binah was a small town in comparison to the capital, damaged by the lowering of the outer lands, but not destroyed. Now here it was, fully rebuilt, and thriving better then it was before. The buildings were taller, there were more citizens, and it was livelier then ever before.

"I'm surprised there are so many people." Sami pointed out. "If I remember correctly, people were afraid to return to this city."

"They were," Maika said. "But after the city was rebuilt, people began to slowly return. It was built even more glorious then ever thanks to the contributions of Emperor Peony."

Sami took a long look around. Indeed everything was different then what Sami was told. He had never been to St. Binah before, only heard what travelers told him. Now that he was here, the traveler's descriptions seemed too insignificant to him.

"Where do you live?" Anise asked.

"On the other side of town," Maika answered. "I'll take you there later, but first I need to drop these pictures off to my employer."

"Alright, we'll wait near that café over there." Sami stated pointing at a small café in the corner of town.

When Maika left, the two walked over to the café and sat at a small round white table. Sami looked at his surroundings and noted four men in chainmail some distance away keeping a close eye on Sami and Anise.

"Are they the body guards sent to defend you?" Sami concluded.

"Yeah that's them," Anise said looking over the menu. "They're keeping their distance so I could keep a lower profile."

"I see," Sami said looking over the menu.

When their waitress came to them, Sami ordered some mini sandwiches to share with Anise and Maika when she came back along with a picture of ice water. As the two waited, Anise decided to make conversation with Sami.

"So Sami," she began. "You say you came from a poor family."

"Yeah," Sami responded. "It was just me, my parents, and my little sister. I had a grandfather who had his own small business, but I was never all that close to him."

"Where are they now?" Anise asked. "Do you still see them?"

Sami looked away silently for a while. Anise looked at him with a combination of puzzlement and discomfort, feeling as though she hit a nerve. "They all died three years ago." He finally responded. "My parents died by the miasma. My little sister and I ended up living with my grandfather for a few months until I was accepted to the Lorelei Institute, but they died when I left." He paused for a moment. "I'm the only member of my family still alive."

Anise looked down feeling guilty over bringing the subject up. "I'm sorry," she replied sympathizing with him.

"It's okay," Sami assured. "I'm actually over it now."

Anise looked at him, not sure if he was truly over the death of his family. It was then she recalled what he said nothing about how his grandfather and sister died. She was tempted to ask, but felt it better to remain silent.

Sami was prepared to say more, but as he heard someone call out to him. "Sami?" a voice said in a questioning tone. He turned to see a familiar face looking over at him.

A young man around Sami's age with orange hair, a freckled face, and a pair of glasses looked over at Sami from a distance. He wore a uniform of white and gold with the Daath symbol in the top corner of his coat.

"Rabin," Sami stated getting up recognizing the person immediately. He noticed the guards posted a few meters away tense as if deciding if they are a threat. He also noticed the Fon Mistress make a waving gesture telling them she doesn't believe he was a threat, and the men eased up, though still on guard.

"So you're really here?" the young man Rabin stated. "It looks like my intuition was right this time. It's a good thing I caught you in time." It was then he looked over at Anise who smiled at him. A sudden expression of shock across his face as he realized who she was. "Is she…"

"Yes, yes," Sami replied cutting him off in a whispered tone. "She's exactly who you think she is. But don't make a scene. We're trying to keep a low profile."

"So you really went through with it." Rabin stated amazed.

It when then Sami turned to Anise who looked at him impatiently waiting for an introduction. "Oh," Sami said realizing what he forgot to do. "This is Rabin Yozakh. He's the son of Count Edward Yozakh of Malkuth, and a classmate of mine."

"Oh yeah," Anise said with recollection in her voice. "I met you're dad at one point. He always brags about how his son passed the Lorelei Institute entrance exam with a perfect score."

"Jeez," Rabin stated sheepishly. "He's always embarrassing me like that."

"Well it's not every day someone gets into one of the top schools in the world, and with a perfect score too."

Sami feeling a long conversation coming decided it best to do the hospitable thing. "Come and join us, we got a lot to talk about."

"I heard that you were one of four people to get into that school with perfect scores."

"Yeah, I was one," Rabin admitted.

"Although I heard there was one student who not only got perfect score, but some really tough extra credit question."

Rabin tilted his head with puzzlement. "You mean Sami hasn't told you about that?"

"Tell me about what?" Anise asked. After a few seconds of letting what Rabin said sink in, she suddenly called out in disbelief. "No way, you were the one who answered that extra credit question!?"

"It wasn't a big deal." Sami said not looking at her in the eye.

"Okay, THAT does not fall under the category of not a big deal! I knew you were super smart, but I didn't know you were this smart! You're like a super nerd! A complete braniac! A…"

"All right, I get it," Sami interrupted feeling like she was border lining between giving a compliment and bullying him. He then turned his attention to Rabin. "Now, you came all the way to St. Binah to see me. What was it?"

"I think its best I tell you in private," Rabin instructed motioning that they should not talk in front of Anise.

"Boo," Anise pouted. "Keeping secrets from everyone's lovable Fon Mistress." She then got up from her chair and stood up straight showing her dignity. "Fine, I don't care anymore."

"You gave up rather quickly." Sami stated.

"Yeah, well the conversation was probably some boring egghead talk anyway. I'm going to see what Maika's doing." She proceeded to walk off appearing uninterested. After stopping once to look over her shoulder, she then skipped off.

As Sami watched her walk off he looked over to see the four guards who had left their position near the wagon to tail the person they were assigned to protect.

When Sami confirmed the Fon Mistress' departure, he focused on his friend from the Lorelei Institute. "We're alone now. What's the news?"

Rabin fell silent for a moment before continuing, his face stern and serious. "It's about your paper Sami." He began. "I hear that the professors are not happy with your paper."

"I'm already aware of that." Sami assured. "I heard an earful from Professor Adner. He doesn't appreciate me going around the world to prove something 'improvable' as he calls it. I…"

"It's more than just that," Rabin interrupted. Sami fell silent when he realized that Rabin had more to say on the matter. He did not come across the world to simply reiterate what Sami already knows. He had some big information. "It's not just Professor Adner; the board is discussing what to do with you."

"What do you mean?" Sami asked.

"Your paper is one that could change everything we know about history. This paper is bigger then you may think."

"I know how big it is," Sami assured. "My reputation as a historian is on the line."

"It won't be just your reputation. The school's reputation will be on the line as well."

"What do you mean the school?" Sami questioned. "I'm doing a final paper, not submitting an official thesis."

"There was a sudden change in the curriculum." Rabin stated with uneasiness in his voice. "The Dean is making all our final papers as official papers for all third year students."

"What?" Sami questioned so loud he caught the attention of some individuals for the moment. "Why would the Dean do something like that?" Sami questioned in a quieter tone. "Sure we're graduating, but we're not official historians yet."

"No one knows why. He would not give any explanation to anyone other than what he believes is 'for the good of the students.' But that in turn lays the problem with your paper. It's a big paper, too big. If you're right, it could change the history books, change the way we view Lorelei, and question everything we once thought. But if you're wrong, you could disgrace not only yourself, but the school. The school's whole reputation is based on what the students submit, and they believe you're paper is too dangerous."

Sami took a moment to let what he said sink in. "What are they planning on doing to me?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But there are rumors. There are some who believe the board will 'loose' your paper. Others think that they'll find an excuse to either suspend, or even expel you as long as you submit that paper. There's even been talk of having you arrested for heresy." Rabin paused to be sure Sami was still listening. "I'm not trying to convince you of anything, but I will ask you to reconsider changing your paper." Sami sat there silently with an unreadable expression on his face. "You have less than six days to create a new one. You're one of the top students of the institute, you barley need a half a day to write a new paper."

Sami looked down with disgust over his options. "So you're asking me to sell out."

"I'm asking you to take into consideration all you went through to get where you were today." Rabin stated. "At least through this way you have a better chance of graduating without any problems." Sami fell silent again. "I'm asking you this as both your friend and colleague, please just consider the possibility."

Sami pondered this for a moment. If he tried submitting the paper without proof to back it up, he runs the risk of the worst happening. He could easily write a new paper, one that the school would accept… however…

"_I wish I was as confident as you brother…"_

Sami shook his head before he got lost in his memories. "I can't do it," Sami stated. "I worked too hard on this paper to give it up now." He looked over at his friend. "Understand I'm too close to give up now Rabin I'm seeing this through till' the end."

Rabin silently looked away with a sorrowful pity in his eyes. "I understand." He found the courage to look at his friend in the eye as he got up. "I did all I could do. The rest is up to you."

"I'll be back in Daath in six days," Sami assured getting up from the table. "By then, expect me to bring back the proof I need."

Rabin smirked as he heard that. "If everyone had your confidence we would all be in constant war."

"That's from a philosophical standpoint." Sami explained. Rabin then got up from his seat and turned. "So what'll you do now Rabin?"

"I'll be stay at the inn until noon tomorrow. I came all the way here; I may as well stay overnight." Rabin looked at his friend one more time before departing "Good luck Sam." With a nod from Sami, Rabin proceeded to walk off, going back to Daath, and leaving Sami to think about his next move.

Sami proceeded to walk down the road when he noticed both Maika and Anise just a few feet away from him, looking him over with sympathetic looks. "I-I met Maika on the way." Anise stated explaining the reason why they came back. "We decided to come back and…"

"You heard all that?" Sami questioned interrupting her.

Though hesitant, Anise decided it better not to hide the truth. "Yeah," she admitted.

A tense silence came across the three for the longest time. They all just stood there thinking about what to say. The only sound did not from the group, but from the people who went out there business. After a few tense moments of silence, Maika decided to speak first.

"So you're still going through with it?" Maika asked.

It took a moment for Sami to catch on to what she was asking. "Oh, yeah, I am."

"Even though you're risking so much?" Anise asked.

Sami smirked as he responded the statement. "I have to," Sami stated. "It's against my principles to back down even if the situation's tough. I'm the type of guy who will believe something until its 100 percent disproved. I don't care what the odds are, even if it's a .01 percent chance of success, I'm not giving it up." The girls remained silent as they heard the words of the archaeologist in training. Sami snorted and looked down feeling pathetic. "I bet you guys must think I'm some arrogant fool, am I right?"

"Arrogant yes," Maika admitted. "A fool… no." Sami raised an eyebrow to the statement. "You have both fortitude and heart, two qualities together that are rare among people."

"Yeah," Anise agreed. "I got to admit, you got guts. There aren't that many people who'd take the easy way out." Anise walked over to the young man and gave him a pat on the back. "I'll do what I can to help you out."

"Me too," Maika agreed.

Sami grinned at their attempt to cheer him up. He had to admit it was working. "Six days," he repeated. "Six days to discover an arte that no one believes exist." He considered his situation and smirked. "Sound like fun."

"Then let's get going," Maika exclaimed.

Both Anise and Sami looked at her surprised. "You want to leave so soon?" Sami asked. "Don't you want to stop by your house or say high to friends?"

"You're the one who's pressed for time." She explained. "Besides, I already met my friends on the way to the press."

"What about your family?" Sami questioned. "You should at least stop by to see them."

"Oh, they don't live here."

"Really? Where are they now?"

"My older sister got married and moved to Keterburg with her husband, and my grandfather's been ill lately so my parents went to Engeve to help him on his farm. I decided to stay in St. Binah because of my work."

"I see," Sami responded understanding. "And you sure you don't want to rest first?"

"Stop acting like you're not worried," Anise assured. "We're all tough. We can take what's coming."

Sami looked from girl to girl amazed by their vigor. With a grin, he realized there was no stopping the girls. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's get some supplies, and then it's off to Shurrey Hill."

Agreeing with the Lorelei Institute student, the three walked off, preparing for their adventure to the Sephiroth. With Sami leading the way, they walked down the busy street of St. Binah.

As they did, they passed a figure sitting on the stoop of a building. The figure wore casual clothing, and sat inconspicuously watching the group walk by. The group of three paid no attention to the person, not acknowledging his existence. His clothing aloud him to blend with the rest of the people in St. Binah, something he counted on.

Tightly gripped in the person's hands was something that would make him stand out if he wore it. He looked at the mask made of black cloth, stitched together with complex sewing. Soon, he would don the mask and locate the lost. But for now, he will let the voice of the lost souls lead him to it.

_To be continued…_

**Skits**

Like before, Sami is Normal, _Maika is Italicized_, and **Anise is Bold.**

**So Sami, I got a question for you.**

Yeah, what is it?

… **I can't help but ask… (grins) are you and Maika dating?**

No we're not.

…

What?

**That's all?**

What do you mean?

**That's all you can say? Just no we're not?**

What were you expecting?

**Denials, blushing, stuttering, give me something to work with here. **

Why would I do that?

… **Have you ever had a girlfriend before? **

Where did that come from?

**(Angrily) Answer the question.**

Y-Yes I have. I had a fare share.

**What's your first girlfriend's name, when was your first date, how far did you get, how long did it last, and why did you break up? **

(Sighs) Her name was Millie Dwight, our first date was on the first day of winter, I never got pass making out with her, our relationship lasted four weeks, and we broke up because we each had someone else we wanted to date.

… **You bore me. (Leaves) **

What was that about?

**Part 2**

**Too honest, too blunt, too boring… no fun at all… Tear and Luke were…**

_Anise, is something wrong?_

… **Are you and Sami dating?**

_W-W-W-What? Me... Sami… dating… but we… dating… us…?!_

**Ah, that's better. **


End file.
